The Rockwood School District earned a 98.2 percent overall score on the Annual Performance Report (APR) of all Missouri school districts put out by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on Aug. 29.

This is an improvement over last year’s score of 94.3 percent, with Rockwood receiving 100 percents in the areas of academic achievement, college and career readiness, attendance and graduation rate.

Superintendent Dr. Eric Knost said he is proud of all Rockwood students.

“Rockwood is an outstanding school district and as our mission statement claims, we make it practice to do whatever it takes to help kids realize their potential, or as I like to say, thrive in the world,” Dr. Knost said. “I have been visiting so many of our schools and classrooms, and I continue to be impressed with the quality of instruction we provide our students.”

While there have been significant improvements, Knost said there are still categories in which Rockwood can advance, specifically with subgroup achievement.

“While the news associated with our APR this year is predominately very good, please remember, this data never serves as an absolute measure of the success of our schools,” Knost said. “In the Rockwood School District, we will always focus on nurturing and educating the whole child, and our approach can never be fully measured by the quantifications included in our State-calculated Annual Performance Report.”

Still, Knost said the report provides valuable data to be utilized as we continue to improve in our student-centered mission.

Dr. Greg Mathison, head principal, agrees with Dr. Knost’s sentiments.

“This is a huge thing,” Dr. Mathison said. “It basically reflects the great things our kids and teachers are doing in the classroom. But when you look at it, one thing you have to remember is that the data is just one piece of evidence of the phenomenal work we do as a school to meet the needs of our kids.”

Dr. Mathison said the number is just quantitative.

“I think the qualitative things we’re doing far outweigh the quantitative,” Dr. Mathison said. “However, our number improving is something that we want to make sure we continue to do.”

Dr. Mathison said he is pleased with the results.

“A lot of work goes into making sure we meet the needs of all of our students,” Dr. Mathison said. “We still have some work to do with students that are underperforming and trying to find ways to engage them in school and get them more actively engaged in higher level courses too.”