The Dougherty County School System saw scores on the state’s College and Career Readiness Performance Index increase last school year, data released by the Georgia Department of Education on Thursday shows.

Scores as a district climbed from 62.9 to 64.2 despite the loss of instructional days and lingering effects to students and staff as the result of January’s devastating storms.

“Thanks to the hard work of our students, staff and teachers, the majority of our schools are trending in the right direction,” Superintendent Kenneth Dyer said. “The data shows that we are continuing to create a culture of systemic excellence so that -- regardless of where our kids go to school -- students receive a high quality education.”

The top performing school in the district remains Robert Cross Middle Magnet School whose overall CCRPI score of 101.5 is among the highest in the state.  All told, 14 of the county’s 21 schools showed improvement over the previous school year.

All of the DCSS High Schools showed improvement over the previous school year. At the middle school level, Robert Cross and Albany Middle saw their scores climb. At the elementary level, Martin Luther King, Jr., Morningside, Northside, Radium Springs, Robert Harvey, Sherwood Acres, Turner and West Town all showed growth.

“It’s encouraging that our teachers and leaders at the school level are improving the quality of education for students across many schools in our district despite the all of the challenges they faced last year,” Dr. Ufot Inyang, Associate Superintendent for Academic Services, said. “We’ll continue to work with schools that struggled and provide them with the support they need to improve their standing.”

The district is taking a close look at the data to see where there are areas for continued improvement. Among its top priorities for the 2017-2018 school year is the creation of a systemic, coherent instructional development system to support teachers to improve student achievement.