EVANS, Ga. () – Good grade for one local school system.  Georgia’s College and Career Ready Performance Index shows Columbia County exceeds its pre-pandemic scores. 

The CCRPI Single Score for elementary, middle, and high schools is based on the performance in content mastery, progress, closing gaps, and readiness. The graduation rate is also a factor for high school students.

“It’s really an opportunity for us to really evaluate how our students have performed over the entire school year,” said Steven Cummings, Assistant Superintendent, Columbia County Board of Education.

While, other counties’ CCRPI scores declined from 2019 to 2024. Columbia County’s went up.  Elementary school scores went up 7-point-1 percent, middle school went up almost 4 percent, and high school increased a little more than one percent.

“We have teachers that are really dedicated to really working hard each and every day. We have a solid curriculum that our teachers adhere to in that curriculum is aligned to our state standards, and our students work really hard to make sure that they follow that,” said Cummings.

With COVID disrupting students and teachers.  Students were still able to recover and excel in their classes. Cummings points out that students in Columbia County were back in the classroom sooner than other districts.

“We came back earlier than many districts are around the state, and so we kept that learning going, and so I think, as a result of that, our students were able to continue that threshold of learning, and as a result, we didn’t have a lot of learning lost,” said Cummings.

Cummings says there are still areas for improvement, and school leaders are implementing measures to improve. He is proud of this milestone and thankful for all the hard work.

“I thank our students, staff, and our teachers for their hard work and dedication throughout this whole entire process. They are the reason why our students are performing the way they are,” said Cummings.

Columbia County ranked fourth in the state overall behind Fulton, Forsyth, and Cobb counties.