42 Shelby County Schools make list for most improved scores

Although Shelby County schools dominated the state’s list of lowest-performing schools this week, many Shelby County schools were also included on a “reward” list of highest-performing and most-improved schools released today.

Reward schools are the top 5 percent of schools in the state for academic achievement and the top 5 percent for annual growth. Shelby County Schools accounted for 42 of the 168 reward schools in the state. Most reward schools in Shelby County were recognized for progress, rather than performance.

Last year, two Memphis City Schools were placed on the rewards list for performance and 20 were recognized for progress. Legacy Shelby County Schools had seven schools noted for performance, three noted for progress and one school noted for both performance and progress.

The lists released this week offer some hints of which interventions at failing schools are working the best. Four iZone schools in Shelby County made the reward list, but no schools in the Achievement School District did. Most of the schools from Shelby County that earned praise for progress were district schools, but a few charters made the cut, as well.

You can find a full list of the reward schools here, and read some of our coverage of the priority list — the reward list’s counterpart of low-achieving schools — here. To view the school’s test scores, visit our new database here.

Schools recognized for their performance and progress:

Middle College High School

Schools recognized for their performance:

Hollis F. Price Middle College High School

Crosswind Elementary School

Dogwood Elementary School

Donelson Elementary School

E. E. Jeter Elementary School

John P. Freeman Optional School

Schools recognized for their progress:

B T Washington High School

Central High School

Charjean Elementary School

Cherokee Elementary School

Chickasaw Middle School

Chimneyrock Elementary School

Delano Elementary School

Douglass Elementary/Middle

Egypt Elementary School

Evans Elementary School

Ford Road Elementary School

Freedom Preparatory Academy

Germanshire Elementary School

Germantown High School

Goodlett Elementary School

Hamilton Middle School

Kate Bond Middle School

Kingsbury Elementary School

Kirby High School

Knight Road Elementary School

Memphis Academy of Health Sciences

Memphis Business Academy High School

Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School

Oak Forest

Oakshire Elementary School

Power Center Academy High School

Ridgeway Middle School

Sharpe Elementary School

Sherwood Elementary School

Soulsville Charter School

Southwind High School

Treadwell Middle School

Veritas College Preparatory

Whitehaven High School

Shelby County School officials shared school turnaround efforts this week while at Cherokee Elementary, one of the district’s Reward schools.