JAMESTOWN — Greeneview Local Schools received a C from the Ohio Department of Education when report cards were released last week.

It was the first time in the long history of the controversial system that districts were given an overall grade in addition to grades in each of the testing program’s six components. But school official’s aren’t scrambling to find out why they didn’t get higher marks, especially since 252 other school districts in Ohio also were in the C range.

“The report card does not reflect all the hard work of our staff and students,” Superintendent Isaac Seevers said. “The main focus for Greeneview remains the same: We believe that schools should provide kids with strong, positive, and supporting relationships in order to thrive in their education. Our staff does an excellent job of creating an environment where students are cared for, challenged, and supported.”

Greeneview showed improvement or stayed the same in all but one component.

The district received an A for its overall graduation rate. The four-year rate of 93.9 earned an A, while the five-year rate of 94.2 earned a B. Grad rates the previous year were 93.2 and 94.6.

Greeneview received a B in gap closing — which shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for the most vulnerable students in English language arts, math, graduation and English language proficiency — meeting 83.3 percent of the measurable objectives. The district earned a C the previous year, meeting 79.4 percent.

Like the previous year, Greeneview earned a C in K-3 literacy. The percentage of kids who moved from off track to on track went down from 43.8 percent to 36.6 percent. Greeneview did have 60 fewer students begin the school year not on track.

Greeneview received a D in prepared for success and achievement — which shows whether student performance on state tests met established thresholds and how well students performed on tests overall.

The district increased its prepared for success score from 39.2 percent to 41.2 percent. That component adds the number of students who earned a remediation-free score on all parts of the ACT or SAT, earned an honors diploma, and/or earned an industry-recognized credential — along with bonus points — and divides it by the combined class size the past two school years.

Under achievement, the district scored a 71.7 percent on performance index, which measures the results of all students, while scoring proficient on 28 percent of the indicators such as fourth grade math and fifth grade science. The previous year the performance index was 73.4 percent and 16.7 percent of the indicators were met.

Progress —which looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances — was the only component where Greeneview failed. It earned a D the previous year. An F indicates students are not making enough academic growth.

“Academically, we recognize there is work to be done in several key areas and those are have been the focus for the district,” Seevers said. “Within the English language arts scores, we have trend data that suggests our students need growth in the area of writing. As a district, we have implemented, now in grades 5-12, a writing program across all curriculums. We believe that we will begin to see significant increases in our English scores as we continue this focus. This past year, we saw an increase in passage rates in six of the eight tested areas of ELA.”

Seevers added that the ultimate goal is “to graduate our students and prepare them to be successful. We have continued to meet high standards for graduation and we are proud that we are trending in the right direction with our high school end of course assessments and graduation rate.”

“We will continue to work hard to improve our scores, but I am extremely proud of the work our staff and students on a daily basis,” he said. “Our staff does an excellent job of meeting the needs of kids and this personal approach is something that sets our people apart. We will continue to work on our educational practices and find ways to reach kids but I we are firm believers that it is relationships, not programs, that change children.”