The annual N.C. School Report Cards were sent home with students in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools on Tuesday and indicated that both districts were among the strongest in the state for the 2003-04 school year.
The report cards assess school and student performance, class sizes, attendance, graduation rates, safety, facilities, instructional resources and teacher quality for each public, charter, and alternative school in the state, as well as for each school district.
Both districts made progress in meeting national standards.
All 11 county schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, a nationwide measure of schools' headway based on the state's academic achievement standards.
In 2002-03, only two county schools met AYP standards.
"That was one of the (board of education's) goals last year," said Anne D'Annunzio, spokeswoman for county schools.
D'Annunzio said efforts to maintain the high performance of county schools included establishing an International Baccalaureate program at Cedar Ridge High School, a district-wide elementary Spanish program and improvement of support programs for students.
Five of the county's seven elementary schools were named Honor Schools of Excellence, a new recognition this year given to schools that made AYP and had at least 90 percent of its students performing at or above grade level.
The other two elementary schools and Cedar Ridge High School were named Schools of Distinction, with between 80 and 89 percent of its students performing at or above grade level.
