Berea Community KDE scores show significant improvement

BEREA – Overall assessment scores were up significantly over last year's scores for Berea Community High School, a new state report has shown. The elementary school meanwhile slipped overall, while the middle school's overall scores held steady, according to the report.

The data are in this year's Kentucky Department of Education annual assessment and accountability evaluation of public schools across the Commonwealth, released earlier this week. The report showed improvement statewide in math and reading across several grade levels.

“I am proud of the commendable performance Kentucky students demonstrated during their assessments,” Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said in a statement. “Our KDE staff has shown a strong commitment to delivering innovative programs, comprehensive training and consistent support for educators throughout the Commonwealth,” Fletcher said.

About the successes here at home, Berea Independent Schools Superintendent Ryan Neaves, PhD, credited the District's teachers, telling The Edge in an email that, "They created consistent, engaging classroom environments, used regular checks for understanding, and delivered targeted supports for students who needed them. Their professionalism, persistence, and commitment to high expectations laid the foundation for these results."

Neaves also commended the District's students whom he said, "rose to the challenge" and "showed determination, pride, and a real willingness to meet the expectations their teachers set for them."

KDE ranking system

Schools in the state are ranked across a number of indicators according to a color scale. Red is the worst while blue is the best. After red comes orange, then yellow, then green. A school's accountability rating is determined by the combined rankings earned by the school across multiple categories, including math, reading, and where high schools are concerned, post-secondary readiness.

During the 2023-2024 school year, Berea Community High School's overall accountability score was in the orange range. This year, it is in the blue.

2024-2025 KDE assessment and accountability scores for Berea Independent Schools

Drilling down

High school
More granularly, Berea Community High School improved dramatically in post-secondary readiness since last year, jumping from the bottom to the top, from red to blue. Where reading and math were concerned, the high school went from orange in the previous school year to blue in the current one.

Science, social studies and overall writing scores for the high schoolers were high at blue last year, but slid backwards to green this year. The school climate and safety rating, a KDE assessment that measures the overall environment at a school, remained at green across both years evaluated.

Graduations rates remained in the green from year to year, according to a formula tabulated according to the percentage of 4- and 5-year cohorts who entered and graduated from the school previously. Transfers in and out of the school, as well as émigrées, and deceased students are included in the tabulation.

Middle school
The overall evaluation for school accountability this year for Community Middle School held steady from last year at yellow. Similarly, the middle school kept in the green zone for science, social studies and writing. Safety and climate scores for the middle school slipped from blue to green over the years, however.

Elementary school
The youngest of the Community Schools' students moved down a notch for their overall score, going from green to yellow. That's because across the academic evaluations, the elementary school slipped from green to yellow. Safety and climate scores for this school also dropped, this time from green to orange.

Statewide scores

This year's overall scores for Kentucky elementary schools saw a rise in the three highest color ratings compared to last year, according to Fletcher, the state's education commissioner. There were 55 middle schools in the state that showed a notable increase in blue ratings. That's compared to 27 in the previous year. Blue ratings for Kentucky high schools nearly doubled from 25 in 2023-2024 to 46 in 2024-2025, the Commissioner said in the statement.

"Overall scores among students in all grade levels improved from 2024 to 2025, with gains occurring across nearly all student demographic groups in each grade level as well, most of which were also an improvement compared to 2023," Fletcher said.

On the heels of chaos

The tests that comprise this year's rankings were administered in May of this year. The overall positive showing for the District, and the stellar showing for Community High School, comes on the heels of several years of growing turmoil at the District, culminating in a budget shortfall of over a million dollars and the placement of the former superintendent, Diane Hatchett, PhD, on administrative leave before she ultimately retired.

"This is positive momentum for our district, and we will continue to press forward with that same collective focus," Neaves told The Edge in an email interview.

Neaves took the helm on July 1. He was chosen by the District's Board of Education after an extensive search and dozens of candidate applications. This is Neaves' first go as a superintendent, having been the principal of Williamstown Independent School District before being selected to lead the Berea district.

On the agenda for his first year here, Neaves said is, "improving student attendance and creating consistent, predictable routines that support learning." He also told The Edge that student and staff mental health and well being are top of mind.

Regarding the lackluster elementary school scores, Neaves said he was not discouraged, but is treating the scores as a baseline that shows where to focus staff efforts. "We feel strongly about the trajectory we are on. Our teachers are working hard on early literacy and numeracy, targeted interventions for students who need support, and consistent use of data to guide instruction."

Summing up elementary school staff efforts, Neaves said, "We are proud of the strong work happening in those classrooms and feel hopeful about this foundation leading to long-term success."

Board member steps down

On Monday night during the monthly Board of Education meeting, Nathaniel Hackett announced he is stepping down. According to his LinkedIn profile, Hackett served on the Board for two years.

A search for Hackett's replacement is on, and will hopefully conclude within the next 60 days, according to a District official who spoke to The Edge on background.

In May, interim superintendent, Elmer Thomas, PhD, told the Board during its regularly scheduled meeting that month, that it has a singularly important job. "Hire a competent school superintendent," Thomas said.

This story has been updated to reflect the correct start date for Ryan Neaves, PhD.