County school districts receive APR scores

Six Wright County school districts recently received their 2024 Annual Performance Report (APR) score from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Manes R-V
When it comes to the Manes R-V School District, the PK-8 location earned a 95% overall APR score and has an 88.3% three year composite score.
Their 95% makes them the top scoring school in Wright County.
Superintendent Mary Holder said the district will continue to focus on improving math and reading instruction while putting an emphasis on academic growth for all students.
“We are very proud of our APR scores,” Superintendent Holder said. “Our students always give 100% on their MAP tests. We have put together an outstanding group of teachers and support staff who work together to give our students the best possible education we can provide them.”
Mansfield R-IV
The Mansfield R-V School District received a score of 91% while the three year composite score was 92.1%.
This puts the district as the No. 5, K-12 district in the entire state for composite APR. They are also No. 2 in southwest Missouri to Nixa and Mansfield was the No. 1 team in the Summit Conference. Overall, they were No. 30 in the state out of more than 460 districts that are K-12 in Missouri.
“At Mansfield, there is an emphasis on academic achievement and I believe that is reflected in our APR,” said Mansfield Superintendent Dr. Clint Hall. “We have a community that values education and supports our school district. We also benefit from an experienced teaching staff. 57% of our teachers have been in the classroom for 15 years or more. When you combine the support of the community with the quality educators that we are fortunate to have, I believe that is what leads to the sustained academic success that is shown through our composite APR. We’ve scored over 90% in each year of the new MSIP system. There are only 19 K-12 districts in the entire state with a three year composite APR above 90%, and for us to be in the top five, I believe that is a team effort.”
Skyline R-II
The Skyline R-II School District, which has grades PK-8, earned an overall APR score of 89% and had a three year composite score of 82.6%.
Their score went up nearly 10% from 2023 and puts the district in the top 10% of the state for all schools, not just those in K-8 districts.
“Overall, I feel this district is moving in the right direction and the scores reflect that,” said Superintendent Donnie Luna. “A couple areas of improvement would be attendance and test scores. We got three out of four points possible for attendance. The district is making an effort to work with parents to address attendance issues on an individual basis. As far as test scores, this is an ongoing effort to increase student achievement across the district. Teachers are taking part in reading training (LETRS) to help with instruction.“
Norwood R-I
As for the Norwood R-I School District, they earned an APR score of 88.8% with a three year composite score of 83.4%.
Their 88.8% is an increase of 8.3% from the APR in 2023.
During the 2023-2024 school year, Norwood’s staff and students focused on intentional instruction through the regular classroom teaching and after school tutoring.
Superintendent Christy Chadwell said the staff does a great job of building relationships with students to meet their educational needs. She said it appeared reflective in the overall gain in growth points that the district was able to achieve in ELA, Math and Science. This was the largest increase in scoring overall through the growth of the students from previous years of testing.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work and effort that our students, parents, staff and teachers invested last year and to see the results in a positive direction is rewarding for the school as a whole,” Superintendent Chadwell said. “We understand that the growth that we have seen over the last three years is still not where we want our school to be and we will continue to work hard and find the solutions to help our students be successful. We have a great school and community and it is rewarding to be able to celebrate the success.”
Hartville R-II
The Hartville R-II School District earned an overall APR score of 88.7%. Their three year composite score was 81.8%.
“Our scores took a huge jump from last year, but we still feel like there is work to be done,” said Hartville Superintendent Adam Cook.
“Our performance scores saw the biggest increase. Credit goes to our teachers for pushing and preparing our students. We still see room for improvement and will continue to address our needs to see continuous growth.”
Mountain Grove R-III
The Mountain Grove R-III School District received an APR score of 84.9% with a three year composite score of 84.4%.
“The Mountain Grove School District is extremely pleased with the 2024 APR scores that were recently released,” said Mountain Grove Superintendent Dr. Aaron Gerla.
“These scores are showing that the hard work of our faculty, staff, admin and students is paying off. Our scores are being maintained from year to year showing that it isn’t just one or two teachers or classes that are raising the score, but a collective effort from everyone. Our elementary school in particular had major growth this past year and now look to maintain what they were able to achieve in the spring of 2024. A large part of this scoring system is the ability to keep growing so we are pushing forward for bigger and better things while also celebrating our successes along the way. We have implemented a new reading curriculum in the district and are working to do the same with math to keep our instruction at its highest potential while meeting the state standards. We want to thank all of the families and community members who have helped us be successful and we look forward to partnering with each of them as we continue to achieve great things. We are very fortunate to have great people working in our school district that care for our students and push them to achieve their goals. We want all of our kids to graduate from Mountain Grove one day and to be successful in whatever path they desire, whether that is college, career or life.”