Reflecting on Academic Growth: PCA's Year in Review

Welcome PCA community! As we celebrate the 4th of July week, we're taking a moment to reflect on our achievements and growth over the past school year. In this episode, we summarize the progress of your kids seen through the trends we've observed through standardized testing.

How do well assess how PCA is doing? We look at three things as we continually assess and adjust. Throughout the year, especially at the end of the year, we've celebrated various milestones and achievements, often referred to as "trophies," which are evident in award ceremonies and report cards. These trophies highlight individual and collective growth and excellence. Additionally, the testimonies from teachers and the community confirm these accomplishments, further showcasing the development of our students.

Today, we're diving into trends observed from our standardized testing, particularly focusing on the NWEA assessments when we look across the entire school, across subjects, and across grades. This test is unique in its emphasis on student growth, which ultimately leads to student achievement. Over the past few years, we've expanded our testing to include more grades, ensuring a comprehensive view of student progress from kindergarten through 11th grade.

Our analysis of the past three years reveals promising trends. Overall, the trends are moving in the right direction, particularly in math, where we've seen significant improvements. This success is attributed to our dedicated teachers and the concerted effort to enhance our math curriculum. However, we've identified areas in reading and language usage that require more attention, and we're implementing strategies to address these dips relative to our very high standards for student growth at PCA.

To provide a clearer picture as to how Growth leads to achievement, we compared our students' performance on a national scale. In math, our students have moved from the 78th percentile to the 95th percentile in just two years. Reading scores have remained around the 90th percentile, with a slight dip this year, which we are addressing. Language usage has shown strong performance, consistently staying around the 94th percentile. Overall, your kids have moved from the 87th percentile to the nearly 93rd percentile in just two years--I celebrate this growth with you!

As a school, we are committed to continuous improvement. Our focus remains on fostering growth, which naturally leads to achievement. As we look to this coming year, we're particularly excited about our potential to qualify for consideration as a National Blue Ribbon School, a testament to our dedication to excellence in education. While this is not a goal unto itself, it is the result of multiple years of broad, solid to excellent growth. Your kids have some strong momentum heading into 24-25 across the board, and have been picking up steam even as we grew in enrollment over the last three years.

 

In conclusion, we are grateful to God for this growth, as well as for the collective efforts of our teachers in partnership with your: our parents and students. As we look forward to the next school year, we are committed to sustaining our strengths and addressing areas for improvement. Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Have a wonderful 4th of July week, and stay tuned for more updates and reflections in the coming weeks.