Heritage High School received a B grade on the school report card for the first time in school history.
The school grade is based on four factors that are taken into account. The first one being if students are achieving high levels on state assessments, secondly if students are achieving their individualized growth targets, thirdly if the lowest 25 percent of students are growing, and finally if students are graduating and entering either enlistment, enrollment or employment.
“Growth is our number one focus as a whole always, because we know that when we grow we’re going to continue to see higher achievement,” said Assistant Principal Janya Moffit. “But I give all the credit to our students [and] our teachers, because they’re the ones who are in the trenches doing this work and they’re doing a great job.”
Arkansas law has required annual school report cards along with a school grade. However, unlike the traditional grading system, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) recently began to grade on a 900 point scale. At the high school level they consider 0-348.89 as a F, 348.90-385.95 as a D, 385.96-457.10 as a C, 457.11-531.99 as a B, and 532.00-900.00 as an A. For the year 2023-2024 Heritage was graded 450.5 which classifieds as a C. All years prior have also been graded a C. However, for the academic year of 2024-2025 Heritage High School has been graded 492.5 which is considered a B. This is a huge achievement for Heritage staff and students with a 42 point growth. Out of 1,032 schools statewide, 291 of them scored a B, making Heritage within the top 40% in the state.
Principal Chip Greenwell thinks it wasn’t one change that caused the grade, but it was a number of factors.
“Everyone across the school has really been focused and it’s been great. And so this is not a me thing, this is not an admin thing, this is a whole school thing,” Greenwell said.
He acknowledged the efforts of students and teachers, but he also credits the improvement to the wider Heritage community.
“Our custodial staff [keeps] our campus clean. Our nutrition staff [provides] healthy meals. Our front office staff [provides] a welcoming environment to everyone who comes in the door.
So it [was] truly a community and team achievement and it [took] everyone,” said Greenwell.
With the relatively new grading system based mostly on growth, Heritage has proven its devotion and dedication to growing its students.
CTE instructor and Debate Coach Wayne Levering said, “The growth of Heritage is completely attributed to the hard work and dedication of students and teachers who want the absolute best. It is not done for praise, not done for glory, those are fleeting rewards, it is done for the genuine and long-term benefits provided through high quality education.”
However it is not just the staff who has the urge for greatness and the drive for success.
In 2023, Laney Sellers (12), expressed concern over the low school grade, but now she’s feeling very encouraged about the progress. “It’s all part of our teamwork as a school and we all put in this work together. And now we broke a record. But if we just keep working harder, [of course] everyone has their own 100%, but as long as we give our 100%, we can go up to an A,” said Sellers.
Greenwell absolutely believes in Heritage’s ability to achieve the status of an A grade. “The goal is for us to be the number one high school in the state of Arkansas. So [students] specifically, show up to class every day, do your best and pay attention in class and reach out to your teachers if you have questions,” Greenwell said.
