Blanco ISD was named a “Recognized” district by the Texas Education Agency in accountability ratings released last Friday. The District’s designation was led by Blanco Elementary, which was honored with an “Exemplary” rating—the state’s highest performance standard. Both Blanco Middle School and Blanco High School were rated “Acceptable.”

Each year, TEA designates both school districts and campuses with performance ratings based upon students’ performance on the TAKS test, attendance, and dropout rates. The highest standard a district or school can achieve is “Exemplary,” and the next highest is “Recognized.”

Dr. Buck Ford, Superintendent of Schools, had this to say about the district’s performance, “We are proud of our performance ratings. These ratings represent a tremendous amount of hard work and steadfast dedication. They demonstrate a belief we have at Blanco ISD—that all students can learn.”

“I want to commend and thank everyone who was associated with this—our administration, campus faculties, staff, and auxiliary personnel. I also want to thank and congratulate our students and parents for their efforts in this accomplishment. I also want to thank the various community members and organizations who have contributed in various ways to our program. Finally, I want to recognize and thank the Board of Trustees for their continual support.”

Sue Ann Reininger, elementary principal, said, “Thanks to all of the hard work, high expectations, and dedication from the staff, students and parents, Blanco Elementary is now an exemplary campus. We are proud of all the students for the effort that they put forth last year. Under the instruction of the teachers and staff at Blanco Elementary, and with the support of parents and guardians, the students excelled in all tested subjects: Reading, Math, Writing and Science. Congratulations go out to them all!”

Jesse Salazar, middle school principal, said, “I would like to thank the students, parents, teachers and staff for all the hard work that was accomplished in the 2008-2009 school year. The Blanco Middle School staff is looking forward for the 2009-2010 school year in servicing our students of the community towards academic excellence.”

Dustin Barton, high school principal, said, “The 2009 TAKS scores for BHS show considerable gains in performance. These gains in performance are attributable to the level of commitment and dedication of the teachers and staff at BHS to improve student performance. Of the 16 categories measured for TAKS performance BHS made improvements in 15 compared to the previous year’s results. Double digit gains were seen in science and social studies sub-populations.”

“I am very proud of the effort made by students and their corresponding success on the TAKS test. For the 2009-2010 school year BHS will continue to pursue excellence by addressing areas for improvement by utilizing C-Scope curriculum, student incentive programs, mentoring programs, internet based TAKS support, TAKS remediation classes, and a structured teacher professional development program.”