Cornell schools rank top 30 percent in Wisconsin
By Julia Wolf
The Cornell Elementary and Middle Schools have reason to celebrate, after they received recognition as part of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Elementary Schools and Best Middle Schools rankings.
The recognition came in the organization’s first ever ranking of elementary and middle schools, with badges awarded to the top 30 percent of schools in each state.
The Cornell Elementary School ranked 105, out of 1,219 elementary schools in Wisconsin. The Cornell Middle School ranked 105, in a pool of 733 Wisconsin middle schools.
“We’ve gotten the award for the high school in the past,” said Paul Schley, Cornell superintendent, adding the awards for the younger grades came as a surprise.
The awards are based on student proficiency in math and reading, as measured by state assessments. Half the ranking formula is proficiency numbers and the other half is based on the results in the context of socioeconomic demographics.
Schley says the schools’ high math scores helped them reach the higher ranking. He attributed the high numbers to a lot of professional development for teachers.
“That’s really made a big difference on our math scores,” said Schley. “We’re consistently one of the best schools around for math.”
He says they have seen more of a drop in reading scores, during COVID- 19, but says the reading numbers are typically very good, too.
Schley also says teachers who have been with the district for a long time, also makes a big difference in having a quality educational program.
“We’ve got some great teachers, we really do,” said Schley.
He says he would like to see the schools continue to improve. Schley says his goal is to reach 80 percent at, or above, proficiency in math, and 7080 percent at that level for reading.
Schley says they are tackling that goal, starting last year, with a new curriculum for English Language Arts (ELA) and focusing professional development around the subject.
He also says parent support and encouragement has a large impact on student success.
