Symmes Valley Elementary honored for momentum in test results

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 30, 2019

WILLOW WOOD — Symmes Valley Elementary was honored last week for academic achievement.

The school received the Education Momentum Award at the Ohio School Boards Association’s Southeast Region Spring Conference on March 19.

Eric Holmes, the principal of the school, said the designation was for the 2017-18 school year.

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“It shows how much growth we’ve had on state tests from one year to the next,” he said.

He said credit goes to the staff and students.

“They work hard every year, trying to determine what standards are, and the students work hard,” he said. “As a result, they do well from one year to the next.”

Holmes said the school employs a system of Teacher-Based Teams (TBTs) which meet to work on school progress.

“It’s a slow process, but they implement changes from one year to the next and we use data to see if there’s a positive effect,” he said. “And with this good input, we get this type of result.”

The Momentum Award recognizes all public districts and schools with at least two Value-Added subgroups of students, which include gifted, lowest 20 percent in achievement and students with disabilities.