St. Bernard Parish Public Schools shined bright once again, in light of the Louisiana Department
of Education’s recent release of performance scores. The district received a B performance
score overall, ranking 11th in the state as well as second in the state for District Performance Score
Point Growth since 2008. Chalmette High School received an A performance grade this year and
was ranked third in the state for point growth from 2008 – 2012 with 56 points.

“Not only do we continue to grow each year, but we continue to grow by larger and larger amounts,” said Superintendent of Curriculum Mary Lumetta.

“[As a district] we grew 10.9 points, just shy of an A,” said Superintendent of Schools Doris
Voitier. “We are one of the highest ranking B’s in the state, we missed it by 3.2 points.”

The new letter grading scale reflects a combination of individual student scores on the LEAP, iLEAP and End of Course Testing (for High School) as well as attendance and dropout rates,
and graduation outcomes. These are combined to get the numerical score, which in turn, gets a
letter grade. Additionally, the letter grades are calculated by a two year average of performance data to get a baseline average.

“We’ve had significant improvement in all of our schools,” said Voitier. “If they judged you on what they did this year, they’re already there.”

Based on 2012 performance growth, the state has identified “Top Gains” schools which are those that achieved their Growth Targets— a point value based on the school’s score for the previous
year. A school graded an “A” must grow by five points for the next year to become a Top Gains
school, and a “B” graded school must grow by ten points for the next year. Top Gains schools
who meet their growth targets will receive monetary rewards to be used for any educational purpose.

St. Bernard Parish’s Top Gains Schools are Gauthier Elementary, St. Bernard Middle, Trist Middle and Chalmette High.

“They [the state] designated reward money to be divided up among the schools, but we’re not
certain as to how much that is,” said Lumetta.

School Board President Diana Dysart praised all involved in the educational process—at home
and in the classroom—for contributing to the continued success of St. Bernard Parish Schools.

“I thank everyone who worked so hard on a daily basis,” said Dysart.