Second-year Jeanerette Elementary School teacher Jeanette Favors watches closely as Dylan Ruffin completes his work at his desk. Favors, Ruffin and others at the school are proud of their performance score, a 40-point increase over the previous one.

Jeanerette Elementary School students will enjoy a little celebration at the expense of school administrators because of the results of the recent performance status school report cards released by the state Department of Education Tuesday.

Jeanerette Elementary had the second-highest increase in its performance grade in the state after almost doubling its score, going from a failing grade of 45.6 points in 2013 to 85.7 points in 2014.

Because of the students 40.1 grade increase, principal Devon Willis-Jones said the school will hold a school dance today.

“I think we really focused on student outcomes…we looked at what kids did and didn’t know and filled in that learning gap,” said Jones, who is in her second-year at the helm at Jeanerette Elementary. “We also did a lot of professional development and just taught teachers how to teach. We gave teachers feedback on their instructions and made sure they were more goal oriented.”

Through attrition, Jeanerette replaced six teachers in the past two years.

Jeanette Favors, second-year fifth-grade teacher at the school, said the substantial improvement was due to students “stepping up” and the working effort between teachers and staff.

“It was a collaboration,” said Favors, who Jones referred to as “one of the best.” “The students set their own goals and they met and exceeded their goals.”

Dodson Street Elementary School scored the highest among primary-grade schools in Iberia at 104.7, up 4 points from a year ago. Johnston Hopkins Elementary scored lowest among the grade schools with a score of 53.3, which dropped significantly from 67.7.

“The district offers numerous professional development opportunities. We are constantly working with our schools to sharpen their strategies,” said Iberia Parish School Superintendent Dale Henderson. “Whether a school faced challenges or not we are still going to examine and look to see where students scored well and where they have some deficiencies.”

School districts in Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes all maintained a B performance status.

School officials in the Teche Area said they are pleased with the results considering both iLEAP and LEAP test were adjusted in grades third through eighth to include items similar to the PARCC test that students will take for the first time next spring.

Though administrators may not hold a district-wide dance party for Iberia parish, officials say there is plenty to celebrate.

“I keep telling everybody this is the last year of the change,” laughed Carey Laviolette, Iberia Parish assistant superintendent of instruction. “This is a challenge for teachers, administrators and the district staff. We are certainly pleased with the progress that the schools have made. We’re going to celebrate for a day and then get back to work.”

The Iberia Parish school district improved 2 percentage points from 86.9 in 2013 to 88.9 in 2014, one of the highest improvements in the Acadiana area. That ranked the district 32nd among the state’s 74 school systems, which is the same ranking it held last year.

The increase marks the ninth year in a row the district has improved, but the district score fell just shy of the state’s score of 89.2, which was an improvement from 88.5.

“I think we have wonderfully committed teachers and staff who are determined to provide the best for our students. When you look at a nine-year run in improvement it’s very impressive,” Henderson said.

School letter grades are gauged based on a 150-point scale. Schools that receive an “A” school performance score fall in the range of 100 to 150. “B” scores are ranges 85 to 99.9, while C scores are between 70 to 84.9. D scores range 50 to 69.9 and an “F” score is any school that falls below 50.

Laviolette said the district worked hard on understanding the assessment guide and coming up with a successful strategy.

“You start with the ‘what’ you will be teaching, then the ‘how’ to teach comes with strategy and it requires extensive study by the staff, the teachers and the administrators,” Laviolette said.

St. Mary Parish school district maintained its 26th ranking in the state after finishing with a score of 90.4, a slight difference from the district’s 90.5 score in 2013.

“St. Mary schools have invested in English language arts, mathematics and reading curricula,” said St. Mary School Superintendent Donald Aguillard. “I am exceptionally proud of the efforts by all St. Mary educators in completing the transition and trust that continued refinements will enable our students to grow academically despite any changes in assessment measures.”

St. Martin Parish schools improved as a district overall, scoring an 85.7 compared to last year’s 85.1. That put the school system ranked 40th among school districts in the state, also unchanged from last year’s ranking.

In a brief interview St. Martin Parish superintendent Lottie Beebe said she was pleased with the district maintaining its “B” rating.

“We’re pleased with the score. I told my staff we wanted to ‘sail along with other districts’ and remain competitive. St. Martin was among 30 school systems in the state to earn the letter grade ‘B.’”