Newcastle Math Students Exceed Expectations Again for 2009

April 28, 2009

Newcastle students and teachers have proven once again that it’s hard to beat the benefits found in a small, rural school! This week the Texas Education Agency released 2009 TAKS math results for 5th and 8th grade students and Newcastle students reached the pinnacle - 100% passing. Not a single student in grade 5 and 8 failed the more rigorous TAKS math tests! Eighth grade math teacher, Alisha Rumans, and fifth grade math teacher, Beth Libby, were all smiles Monday when the news spread throughout the school of their students’ accomplishments. They have both worked very hard this year to create the environment necessary for students to excel in math and they truly enjoyed the privilege of making the announcement to their students.

Mrs. Rumans and the 8th Grade Students

“Having 100% of our students passing is not even the highlight of these results,” said Cathy Creel, Newcastle School principal. “The amazing part of these results is the fact that 73% of our 8th grade students and 58% of our 5th grade students were recognized for ‘commended performance’ which means that they missed at most two questions on the math TAKS test. That is just an amazing accomplishment!”
These terrific math results came at just the right time to provide all Newcastle students an enthusiastic boost for returning to the “exemplary” status for 2009! The remainder of all TAKS grades 3-11 testing for 2009 begins next week, April 27th, with four days of grueling assessments in reading, English language arts, math, science, and social studies. Superintendent, Gordon Grubbs said, “These results are super and indicate the great and wonderful job our faculty and staff are doing to meet the high standards set by our state education agency. It is so nice to be in a small school such as ours where everyone pulls together and we can work so closely with individual students to help them achieve this kind of academic success.”