South has received an Exemplary ranking from the Illinois Report Card, placing in the top 10 percent of schools statewide.

The Illinois Report Card, released annually, ranks school and district performance based on educational data gathered and is submitted by teachers and the state, according to illinoisreportcard.com, the Illinois Report Card website. The website lists comprehensive information on every school in Illinois, including graduation rates, test scores, and statistics on student groups as well as income, allowing students, family and facilities an opportunity to learn more about their school.

This year, a unique redesign of the ranking was put in place for Illinois schools to make them more consistent with other states, D225 Superintendent Dr. R.J. Gravel said. The new rankings now grade in accordance with other schools throughout the country, which helped to allow South’s ranking to move up from commendable to exemplary, Gravel said.

Gravel cited several factors contributing to South’s ranking, including student supports and the prioritization of student attendance.

“Part of the success is that we offer a lot of support services,” Gravel said. “By having options, we see growth because students are connected and engaged.”

South has worked to improve from Commendable to Exemplary for about three years, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said. An important part of the new rating was a focus on the Progress Of Proficiency, an assessment tool which tracks how quickly multilingual students are able to reach proficiency in the English language, Georges said. The new ranking also has a positive impact on students when applying to secondary schools, Georges said. An exemplary title shows colleges and parents that South is a highly acclaimed school with a variety of options for students to thrive, Georges said.

“It’s been a collective effort,” Georges said. “It demonstrates what schools can do when students, staff,  and the community work towards the same goals.”