Seven Havasu Schools Shine with A and B Grades, Only One Falls Short

The Arizona State Board of Education has unveiled the letter grades for public schools in Arizona for the 2023-2024 academic year, a process that affects institutions including those within the Lake Havasu Unified School District (LHUSD).

This grading system, mandated by state law and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, utilizes an A-F scale to evaluate school performance. Schools submit student assessments, growth scores, and other data to the Department of Education, which then calculates the grades based on established cut scores.

In Lake Havasu City, eight public schools were evaluated, resulting in five receiving an A, two a B, and one a C. The district as a whole earned a B grade.

To clarify the grading scale: an A indicates excellence, a B signifies high performance, while a C reflects satisfactory performance.

The detailed breakdown of school ratings is as follows:

• Havasupai Elementary – A
• Jamaica Elementary – B
• Nautilus Elementary – A
• Oro Grande Preparatory Academy – A
• Smoketree Elementary – B
• Starline Elementary – A
• Thunderbolt Middle School – C
• Lake Havasu High School – A
• HavasuOnline – D

Several schools maintained their previous year’s grades, while others witnessed changes. Notably, Starline Elementary improved from a B to an A, while Jamaica Elementary experienced a decline from an A to a B. Thunderbolt Middle School’s grade decreased from a B to a C.

Jaime Festa-Daigle, the director of student achievement for LHUSD, noted that the district’s progress post-Covid has been significant, with five A schools now compared to only one prior. This marks the first time since 2011 that LHUSD has reached this number under the current grading system.

“In Arizona, letter grades are primarily dictated by standardized test scores, alongside factors like student growth, chronic absenteeism, college readiness, and graduation rates,” stated Festa-Daigle. “While the grading method has its flaws, it applies uniformly across public and charter schools.”

Festa-Daigle emphasized that despite the public release of grades, earlier efforts had been directed towards improving academic performance for the new school year.

Highlighting LHUSD’s achievements, she announced that ACT scores for juniors at Lake Havasu High School have risen across all areas, exceeding state averages. Moreover, elementary students have outperformed state benchmarks in English and Math proficiency.

Thunderbolt Middle School showed improvement in eighth-grade English Language Arts and Math scores. Lake Havasu High School also reported a record high in college and career readiness metrics, indicating greater student engagement in advanced coursework and internships.

While standardized grades do not reflect the successes of students in grades K-2, LHUSD is committed to ensuring that all students reach grade-level reading by third grade. Festa-Daigle added, “Our elementary teachers are emphasizing phonics-based instruction and providing targeted support for students through small group work.”