10/16/2026
❤️💛 BEYOND THE ORANGE: THE STORY OF McCREARY COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL ❤️💛
Today during common planning, our MCMS teachers and staff enjoyed a little chips and dip! We celebrated everyone CHIPPING IN and doing what they do each day for our Raiders. And we definitely took a DIP!
We DIPPED into our 2025–2026 Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) data! 📊
By now, many of you have probably seen the image shared showing that McCreary County Middle School received an overall ORANGE rating.
And yes, that is our rating. We aren't hiding it, making excuses for it, or pretending there isn't work to do.
But that color doesn't even begin to tell the WHOLE story of what we celebrated today!
So, I want to share a little of what lies BEYOND THE ORANGE! 🧡
📈 FIRST, LET'S TALK ABOUT GROWTH!
Last year, MCMS received an overall accountability score of 44.8.
This year? 50.1!
That's a 5.3-point INCREASE in just one year!
And guess what score it takes to become a YELLOW school?
51.0!
We were just 0.9 points away from YELLOW!
Did we want to cross that line? Absolutely! But I refuse to overlook the progress our students and teachers made getting that close.
We are moving in the right direction, and that deserves recognition!
🟢 WE HAVE GREEN WORTH CELEBRATING!
Here's something that didn't show up in that overall orange rating!
McCreary County Middle School earned a GREEN performance rating in the combined Science, Social Studies, and Writing accountability indicator!
That's right! GREEN! 💚
And when we look a little deeper into those subjects, there is even more to celebrate!
🔬 SCIENCE: OUR LOWEST NOVICE PERCENTAGE IN FIVE YEARS!
In Science, we reduced the percentage of students scoring Novice from 33% to 27%!
That is a 6-percentage-point reduction in one year and our LOWEST reported Novice percentage in the past FIVE YEARS!
Even better? 73% of our students scored ABOVE Novice in Science!
And while the state reduced its Novice percentage by 3 points, MCMS reduced ours by 6!
We are closing gaps, and our students are making progress!
✏️ WRITING: LOOK AT THAT GROWTH!
This is another area where our students and teachers deserve a round of applause!
Our Proficient and Distinguished percentage increased from 20% to 31%!
That's an 11-percentage-point INCREASE!
At the same time, our Novice percentage dropped from 37% to 29%!
And 71% of our students scored ABOVE Novice in Writing!
We achieved our second-highest Writing proficiency rate in five years, and while statewide Writing proficiency decreased, ours increased!
That is something worth celebrating!
🌎 SOCIAL STUDIES: MORE STUDENTS REACHING PROFICIENCY!
In Social Studies, MCMS returned to its HIGHEST Proficient and Distinguished percentage in the five-year period, matching our 2023–2024 performance at 30%!
We also reduced Novice performance by 8 percentage points in just one year while increasing proficiency by 5 percentage points!
More students are moving out of Novice and reaching higher levels of achievement!
📚 READING AND MATH: WE HAVE WORK TO DO, BUT WE HAVE STUDENTS TO CELEBRATE!
We know that Reading and Math remain areas where we must continue to improve. We aren't going to shy away from that.
But I also want our community to recognize the students who ARE demonstrating what they know!
📖 READING: 63% of our students scored ABOVE Novice, with 31% reaching Proficient or Distinguished!
✏️ MATH: 63% of our students scored ABOVE Novice, with 30% reaching Proficient or Distinguished!
That's nearly TWO OUT OF EVERY THREE students tested in each of these subjects performing above the Novice level!
Are we satisfied? No.
Do we have work to do? Absolutely!
But we will celebrate what is going right while continuing to work on what needs to improve.
🌟 389 REASONS TO CELEBRATE!
Now, here's a number that makes me smile!
389 MCMS STUDENTS scored ABOVE NOVICE across ALL tested content areas! 🎉
That's 389 individual students who demonstrated performance beyond the Novice level in every subject in which they were tested!
Not just one subject. ALL of their tested subjects!
And while our ultimate goal is for every student to reach Proficient or Distinguished, we also recognize the importance of moving students beyond Novice.
Behind that number are 389 children with their own stories, strengths, challenges, and accomplishments.
That's 389 reasons to celebrate our students, recognize the hard work of our teachers, and keep pushing forward!
Because our students are so much more than a number, a percentage, or a color on a chart!
💛 BUT HERE ARE SOME OF THE NUMBERS THAT MAKE THIS PRINCIPAL THE PROUDEST!
We are more than a color, and our students are more than a test score.
Academic achievement is incredibly important, but so is what our students experience when they walk through our doors each day.
And when I looked at what our students told us through their surveys, I found some numbers that mean more to me than I can put into words.
❤️ 96% of our students say adults at MCMS CARE ABOUT THEM!
❤️ 96% say there is at least one adult at school who LISTENS TO THEM!
❤️ 95% say they have an adult at school they can TALK TO when they have a problem!
❤️ 95% believe adults work hard to KEEP THEM SAFE!
❤️ 94% believe adults care about their PHYSICAL SAFETY!
❤️ 91% report feeling SAFE in their classrooms!
❤️ 90% report feeling a sense of BELONGING at school!
Read those first three again.
96% feel cared about. 96% have someone who listens. 95% have someone to turn to when life gets hard.
As a principal, those numbers mean the world to me.
Because every child deserves to have someone in their corner.
Every child deserves to feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.
And every child deserves a trusted adult they can turn to when things aren't going right.
Are we perfect? Absolutely not.
Do we have areas where we must continue improving student safety, belonging, and relationships? Of course.
But I am incredibly proud of the relationships our teachers and staff are building with our students.
Those relationships matter, and our students are telling us they matter!
❤️ THE WORK OF AN EDUCATOR IS NEVER FINISHED!
And let me say one more thing.
It wouldn't matter if our rating were ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, or even BLUE. We would STILL have room to grow!
That's the nature of education. That's who we are as educators.
We are lifelong learners ourselves. We are constantly reflecting on our practices, researching what works, learning new strategies, keeping up with the changing needs of our students, and looking for ways to become better at what we do.
We don't stop learning because we have a degree.
We don't stop improving because we've had a successful year. And we certainly don't stop pushing ourselves because we've reached a particular color on a chart.
Our students deserve the very best versions of ourselves, and becoming that version is something we work toward EVERY SINGLE DAY!
That's what I see in our teachers and staff. A group of people who care enough to reflect, to learn, to adjust, and to keep trying.
No matter what color we earn, there will ALWAYS be work to do. And no matter what color we earn, there will ALWAYS be something worth celebrating!
Because at MCMS, improvement isn't something we do just because of a state rating.
It's part of who we are.
❤️ TO OUR RAIDER FAMILY!
To our teachers and staff: THANK YOU for chipping in every single day! Thank you for loving our students, challenging them, encouraging them, and doing the difficult work that doesn't always show up on a state report card.
To our students: You are not a number. You are not a percentage. And you are certainly not a color on a chart. You are the reason we do what we do!
To our families and community: Thank you for supporting our school and trusting us with your children.
We are not where we want to be YET, but we are not standing still!
We can recognize our challenges AND celebrate our successes. We can be proud of our progress AND expect more of ourselves.
Because BOTH things can be true!
An ORANGE rating is part of our story, but it is NOT our whole story!
And at McCreary County Middle School, we don't just count the days. We make every day count!
❤️💛 ONE SCHOOL. ONE RAIDER FAMILY. ❤️💛
