Three in Jay earn honor

Praise from the state level for Jay County schools continues to roll in.
Jay School Corporation had three schools — East Jay Middle, East Elementary and Bloomfield Elementary — on the list of Four-Star Schools the Indiana Department of Education released Tuesday.
“The buildings work hard. The kids work hard,” said Jay Schools superintendent Tim Long, noting that three schools earning the four-star honor is the most the corporation has had in his eight-year tenure. “I think if you’re associated with Jay Schools, you know its all about performance. We’ve always had quality schools, but we see more and more of the schools are raising the bar higher.”
All 10 of Jay School Corporation’s schools earned A grades from the state in the ratings that were released in December. East was also one of three elementary schools in the state to be nominated for a National Blue Ribbon.
The Four-Star award is based on the percentage of students at each school who pass the ISTEP+ English and math tests. Schools that rank in the top 25 percent in the state receive the award.
“In this area, there aren’t too many, so I feel pretty good about that,” said Long. “People spend a lot of time on testing so its nice to see a return on that.
“I feel pretty good about it.”
Six schools in the counties contiguous to Jay earned the honor, including Adams Central elementary and high schools. The others were Eaton Elementary School and Wapahani and Yorktown high schools in Delaware County and Bellmont High School in Decatur.[[In-content Ad]]