Just as student report cards provide parents with information on their child's performance, the NC School Report Cards offer a snapshot of some of the important information about individual schools. The State Board of Education and State Superintendent June Atkinson are committed to ensuring that North Carolina’s schools are preparing students for the demands of college and skilled work in the 21st Century.

The School and District Report Cards are loosely structured around the School/District Profile; High Student Performance; Safe, Orderly & Caring Schools; and Quality Teachers/Administrators.

Report Cards are provided for all public, charter, and alternative schools operating during the 2008-09 school year. However, you will notice that Report Cards for charter and alternative schools will vary slightly. Because charter schools are not part of a school district, only state comparisons are provided on their Report Cards. Additionally, quality teacher data are limited for charter schools due to the flexibility allowed in their operations. Grade ranges in alternative schools may vary from year to year. For example, an alternative school may be listed as a K-12 school, but only have students in grades 3-10 this year. Federal schools, state-operated schools, and other special schools will not receive Report Cards due to differences in the way data are reported for these schools.

In most instances, data in the School Report Cards are reported at the school, district and state levels. School data are based on information from all grades within the school. However, for several indicators, including School Size, School Performance, School Safety, Attendance, and all information in the Quality Teachers' section, data from all schools in the same grade range category are averaged to produce district and state comparison results. Based on their grade range, all schools have been assigned to one of six categories - elementary; middle; high; combined elementary, middle and high; combined elementary and middle; or combined middle and high. A detailed listing of the grade ranges included in each category is available from the NC Department of Public Instruction.

As you view the Report Cards, you will note the appearance of N/As, >95%, or <5% in some tables. N/A (not available) is used throughout the site to reflect the absence of reportable data. Additionally, in any group where the percentage of students at a grade level is greater than 95% or less than 5%, the actual values are not displayed because of federal privacy regulations. In these cases, the results are shown as >95% or <5% for the group. Additional information is available from the NC Department of Public Instruction.

If you have a specific question about your child's performance or the material your child is studying, consider first contacting your child's teacher. The school's main office can direct your call or provide you with additional contact information for your child's teacher. If you have general questions about the school's performance or the educational priorities at your school, please contact your school principal.