Data released Thursday by the North Carolina State Board of Education shows Polk County Schools as the highest performing school district in North Carolina in 2015-16.

All seven Polk County schools scored a B or higher on the 2015-16 School Performances Grades compiled for the state board, making Polk County Schools the only district in the state to have all of its schools score at least a B.

Polk County Early College received an A while all other county schools received a B. It marks the first time since the state began releasing letter grades in the 2013-14 school year that all district schools have earned a B or higher.

Required by state law, the School Performance Grades offer a letter grade based on a formula that seeks to measure student growth on standardized tests from one year to the next.

“We’re very proud of the effort of our teachers, schools, students and community,” said Polk County Schools Superintendent Aaron Greene. “The fact that our students met or exceeded their growth expectation shows the commitment our students and families have to doing well in school. I feel these results help confirm that our local public schools are performing at the highest levels and providing quality educational experiences for all students.”

Each school’s grade reflects a weighted average of the percentage of students scoring at or above proficient on end-of-course and end-of-grade exams and the percentage of students reaching expected growth levels.

All seven district schools had at least 70 percent of students taking EOG or EOC exams at or above proficient, with Polk County Early College recording 91 percent of its test takers at that level.

Among other area districts:

• Henderson County had 17 of its 22 schools at the B level or above

• Rutherford County had 9 of its 17 schools at the B level or above and had one D school

• Buncombe County had 17 of its 42 schools at the B level or above

• Lake Lure Classical Academy received a C

• Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy received a B

– article submitted by PolkSchools.com