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​By Sherry Kughn, Star Staff Writer, skughn@annistonstar.com

Dec 26, 2024

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Superintendent Mike Hayes is humbled by Piedmont City Schools ranking on the latest state report card. His school system is one of 11 school districts that received all As on the state report card, and is tied for second place with the highest overall grade, along with Vestavia Hills City Schools, with a score of 97. Mountain Brook City Schools takes the top spot with a score of 98.

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Piedmont’s overall score is up three points from the 2022-23 report card.

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Hayes gives credit to all the “folks” involved.

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“It’s a reflection of all the hard work our staff members, students, parents and the community put into achieving the scores we have,” said Hayes, who has worked in the Piedmont system for 27 years, eight as superintendent.

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Hayes and Assistant Superintendent Jerry Snow said administrators and teachers mostly focus on the academic growth component of the state report card. Piedmont scored a 100 on the growth component, meaning students met the growth benchmark in math and English language arts set by the state.

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“Our focus each year on growth,” Hayes said,” and if we reach our growth targets, the achievement scores that show proficiency will take care of themselves.”

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Last year’s academic achievement score is 90.32, up from the previous year by 4.89 points

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The system has a tradition of outstanding performances that dates back throughout the last couple of decades, which is good for its population of 1,075 students.

 

The graduation rate at Piedmont High School is 98.86, up from 94.74 in 2022-23. One of the reasons, according to Hayes and Snow, is that students are actively exploring future career opportunities and see the value of graduating as a means to achieving their career goals. Counselors, career coaches and job coaches lead the efforts in exposing the students to potential career choices.

  

“A little more than 50 percent of our students choose the college path,” Hayes said, “and the other 50 percent choose a career-tech path or move directly into the workforce. Piedmont works hard to expose these students to multiple career paths that may peak their interest for future job opportunities. Students are given the opportunity to explore careers in health care, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, welding, construction and a few other career paths that may draw their interest.”

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Another reason the graduation rate is so high is that the high school personnel on all levels simply never give up on students who may consider dropping out of school, and the school’s personnel goes the extra mile to convince students to complete high school.

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“There are a lot of solid school systems in this county, and many go the extra mile,” Hayes said. “We don’t let students drop out without having multiple discussions with them and their parents.”

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The chronic absentee score for the school system was 8.77, which is an improvement over the previous year. Besides making school more interesting for students, school officials work with the Calhoun County Early-warning truancy program to prevent students from accumulating excessive absences. Most students understand that if they are consistently absent, they will have to deal with the juvenile system, Snow said.

 

“When our students start missing school,” Snow said, “we have multiple people calling the home and trying to solve the problem before it gets to the court or juvenile system.”

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College and career readiness is the final component of the report card scores. The Piedmont school system scored a 98.86 for helping students prepare to move beyond graduation. The previous academic year’s score was 94.74. According to Hayes, students can improve their readiness in several different ways, such as meeting a benchmark score on the ACT, AP or WorkKeys assessments, gaining credentials in a career-tech field or completing a dual enrollment course from an institution of higher learning.

 

“We make sure 100 percent of our kids in the career-tech department earn a career-readiness indicator,” Hayes said. “They go through all the safety training they would need to work in a factory, or any construction industry, and other types of trades prior to being placed in a worksite.”

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Overall, Hayes said he is extremely proud of the students and the faculty for this year's achievements.

 

“Our number one focus is to continuously review data and meet our students where they are, while trying to move them as far as we can during the course of the school year. Our teachers are changing instructional plans in real time instead of waiting until the end of the nine weeks or the end of a semester. Students are receiving what they need on a daily basis to reach their full potential.”

 

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