By Stephen Smoot
Statewide, the Balanced Scorecard measures used by the West Virginia State Department of Education show overall improvement between the 2023-2024 school year and that for 2024-2025.
According to the WVDE, “each public school and district receives a scorecard that measures progress across multiple indicators, including academic achievement, academic progress and student success indicators, such as chronic absenteeism and post-secondary outcomes.
It goes on to state that “the Balanced Scorecard provides annual updates to families, communities and stakeholders on district and school performance.”
Nicole Hevener, Pendleton County Schools superintendent, stated in the second meeting in September that “I feel like we’re holding steady. Overall, we’re doing very well.”
In overall statistics Pendleton County was one of the few counties in West Virginia, Hardy County being another, where the student population expanded. It rose from 846 in 2023-24 to 850 in 2024-25 and is expected to increase slightly more in the present school year. Attendance ticked up from 93 percent to 93.65 percent, reflecting the strong work of staff and Communities in Schools.
The Balanced Scorecard rates all the schools in different age and grade categories together and also breaks down information on individual schools.
Also, it is color-coded and offers a spectrum to show progress within a category. Red means does not meet standard, yellow partially meets standard, blue meets standard and green exceeds the expectations of the state. Furthermore, the more the color bar covers a field, the closer the system is to achieving the next tier.
Pendleton County’s elementary schools showed some slight declines. In academic progress, English and language arts held steady, meeting state standards. Math dropped slightly in academic progress and both subjects declined a small amount in academic achievement.
Individually, Brandywine Elementary School meets or exceeds state standards in every field, with attendance moving from meets to exceeds state standards.
Franklin Elementary School maintained its performance from one year to the next, partially meeting standards in English and language arts and mathematics in academic achievement. FES met standards in English academic progress, attendance, and behavior.
North Fork Elementary School enjoyed the highest possible score on student behavior, filling the field of “exceeds standard.” It faced challenges, however, in slight declines in academic performances in every field.
One special issue faced by NFES lies in its smaller student population. Changes in results from a small number of students have a bigger proportional impact on overall school results.
“There’s definitely work to do at the middle and high school levels,” noted Hevener. Pendleton County Middle/High School held steady in every category from 2023-24 to 2024-25. The graduation rate exceeded standards, but mathematics fell just short of partially meeting standards. English and language arts did partially meet state expectations.
Hevener emphasized of the students at PCM/HS that “we must be making sure that we have buy-in, that they are ready to be engaged.”
The superintendent also shared that in her estimation, Pendleton County students have unrealized potential to perform better and that “the staff is dedicated to our students and to helping them grow.”
