Be Informed

Blackwater Reports looked into Currituck County Schools 2022 Report Card issued by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI). NCDPI says that “School Academic Growth represents a student’s academic progress compared to the average progress of students across the state in a given grade and/or subject. When the state has compelling evidence that the students in a school are progressing far above the average, we consider the school to be exceeding expected growth. When there is evidence that the students in a school are progressing consistent with the average, we consider that school to meet expected growth.”

The Currituck report card could obviously look better, but it performs above the state average in several areas. In a statement from School Board Chairman Dawn Craft, she wrote, “We are proud of the resilience, dedication, and commitment of our staff. We saw a nominal decline because of their efforts to engage students with standards-aligned instruction and hold our course. Being mindful, we are not satisfied with average.” We reached back out to Craft for greater detail but did not hear back as of press time.

According to NCDPI The four-year graduation rate for Currituck is 90.1%, above the State average of 86.4%. Regarding math, 44% of students need to be proficient, with 50% not proficient in reading. Other areas included:

• Science Performance 26% not proficient (pre-COVID) 9% (declined)
• Biology Performance 46% not proficient (pre-COVID) 16% (declined)
• English II Performance 45% not proficient (pre-COVID) 49% (declined)
• NC Math 1 Performance 63% not proficient (pre-COVID) 53% (declined)
• NC Math 3 Performance 39% not proficient (pre-COVID) 49% (improved)

As Craft said, the school system did see a decline post-COVID, as did schools across the state. Much of this data is raw, and we did not go into detail in this report so that parents can draw their own conclusions on school performance. We believe parents should be more than casually involved in their child’s education. The district encourages attendance and participation at school board meetings and volunteering at their child’s school. Volunteer Here.

School-Specific Report Cards

• The JP Knapp ECH (i)School (NCDPI Grade of B) Student Growth Exceeded
• Currituck County High (NCDPI Grade of C) Studen Growth Not Met
• Currituck County Middle (NCDPI Grade of C) Student Growth Exceeded
• Moyock Middle (NCDPI Grade of C) Student Growth Met
• Central Elementary (NCDPI Grade of D) Student Growth Met
• Jarvisburg Elementary (NCDPI Grade of C) Student Growth Met
• Knotts Island Elementary (NCDPI Grade of C) Student Growth Met
• Moyock Elementary (NCDPI Grade of C) Student Growth Met
• Shawboro Elementary School (NCDPI Grade of C) Student Growth Met
• WT Griggs Elementary (NCDPI Grade of C)
• Water’s Edge Village School

None of the Currituck schools met standards for any of the six special recognition categories awarded by NCDPI:

• Global-ready School Designation
• Green Ribbon School
• National Blue Ribbon Schools
• Purple Star Award
• STEM Schools of Distinction
• State Schools of Character

Blackwater Reports welcomes further comment from the Board of Education, the Schools Superintendent, and the community.