Wilson County Schools announces that six schools have received Reward School status by the Tennessee Department of Education. This announcement comes from the TDOE’s designation and accountability report for the 2020-2021 school year.
In a school year that endured many unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, these schools reached the highest designation from the State for growth and achievement.
“We are extremely proud of our Reward Schools for the 2020-2021 school year,” says Director of Schools, Jeff Luttrell. “There were several challenges for all of our educators during the year and they met those challenges with a professional and result oriented approach.
Meeting the standards for this honor is a direct correlation of our excellent teachers, students, staff and administrators. Wilson County continues to produce accountability data that exemplifies success.”
The schools receiving Reward School designations for the 2020-2021 school year include:
- Gladeville Elementary
- Mt. Juliet High School
- Rutland Elementary
- Springdale Elementary
- Stoner Creek Elementary
- West Elementary
While all schools faced COVID-19 challenges during the course of last school year, the circumstances for Stoner Creek Elementary were even more complicated due to the March 2020 tornado that destroyed their school building. Ultimately, Stoner Creek Elementary was placed at Mt. Juliet Middle for the entire 2020-2021 school year.
Being housed in three different buildings over the past 18 months (including their building that was destroyed by the storm) the reaction from Stoner Creek Elementary’s administration was filled with emotional excitement after learning about their Reward School honor.
“I think we’re still in shock because of all of the changes that took place last year,” says Stoner Creek Elementary Principal, Amanda Smith. “We just kept saying, ‘we’re going to conquer the climb’ and that turned out to be one of our mottos. We kept our focus on students and putting them first. Being named a Reward School shows that we reached the peak of that particular mountain. I’m just incredibly proud of the teachers and the students – it almost brings tears to my eyes to know this is real and it happened. We’re so proud of this.”
Wilson County Schools is comprised of over 20 schools across the district. While six were named as Reward Schools, several other schools were on the cusp of earning Reward School achievement.
“To have six Reward Schools, we are thrilled, but not surprised,” says WCS Deputy Director of Testing and Accountability, Dr. Jennifer Cothron. “We’ve watched the hard work that our schools have done this past year. When we were moving back and forth between hybrid and remote learning, every day was an instructional day regardless of the format we were in. So to see our teachers and administrators adjust like that was just incredibly remarkable to see.”
For more information on the State’s latest report, visit TDOE Announces School Designations for 2020-21 School Year.
