The front steps of Decatur High School. Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

The state of Georgia ditched the school performance rating system under the federal No Child Left Behind law, known as Adequate Yearly Progress, in favor of a new system.

Within that system, City Schools of Decatur shines.

Georgia now uses the College and Career Ready Performance Index, a score derived from student achievement, 60 percent, progress, 25 percent, and closing the achievement gap, 15 percent for a total of 100. There’s also possibility of bonus and challenge points, meaning some schools could score higher than 100 percent, as one CSD school did.

CSD says it ranked sixth overall in the state of Georgia, with a CCRPI score of 87.3 percent. Clairemont Elementary Scored 100.7 percent.

“Once again schools in CSD rise to the occasion and outpace the state in performance. We feel that this measure, as opposed to AYP, is a better reflection of the work happening in City Schools of Decatur,” Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Edwards said in a press release.

Decatur’s situation is unique. Unlike most other metro area school systems, it only has one high school and one middle school. It’s also dealing with booming enrollment. The Decatur schools system’s current enrollment is around 4,300 students. A consultant’s report on enrollment estimates that the city’s school system will grow to 7,398 students by 2020 without annexation in a high-growth scenario.

The School Board passed a resolution on Dec. 17 in support of Decatur’s annexation master plan, with a provision that the city would agree to help CSD find a location for a new school, most likely another elementary.

Atlanta Public Schools CCRPI score is 62.5 percent. DeKalb County’s is 61.9.

Here are the scores for schools in our coverage area, obtained from the Georgia Department of Education website and CSD.

Decatur 

School                       CCRPI

Clairemont               100.7

Glennwood                90.9

Oakhurst                    98.7

Winnona Park           94.9

4/5 @ Fifth Avenue    87.9

Renfroe Middle         88.8

Decatur High             86.9

Atlanta 

Toomer Elementary 51.9

Whitefoord – 63.9

King Middle School  65.4

Coan Middle School 75  (Note: King and Coan have merged as of this year.)

Jackson High            57

Drew Charter School – 85.5

DeKalb County

Avondale Elementary    64.5

Briar Vista Elementary  81.3

Fernbank Elementary   94.9

Laurel Ridge Elementary  83

McLendon Elementary  62.2

Druid Hills Middle  72.6

Druid Hills High 63.8