South Putnam High School earns Four Star distinction

The Indiana Department of Education has designated South Putnam High School as one of its prestigious Four Star schools.

Only 14 percent of schools in all of Indiana qualified for this distinction. South Putnam qualified by placing in the upper 25th percentile of schools in performance on ISTEP+ and ECA state exams.

"Receiving the Four-Star Award is a wonderful achievement for the high school. Mr. Principal Kieth) Puckett, his administrative team, and the staff at the high school have continued to promote quality education year after year and it is very nice to be recognized for their efforts," Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt said. "I want to thank the students for the many hours of studying and hard work they have done to make this possible. I am especially thankful for the strong support and emphasis on the importance of education our parents and families provide. We can all be very proud of this achievement."

Bernhardt and the South Putnam School Board applied to the D.O.E. and implemented the reconfiguration of South Putnam Junior-Senior High School into two separate schools--South Putnam Middle School and South Putnam High School.

"I'm grateful for Mr. Bernhardt and the school board's foresight in this matter," Puckett said. "The 2012-13 school year is the first year that our high school was judged without the junior high attached. The truth is that we very likely would have been a Four Star school for many of the previous six years if the high school could have been judged on its own merits. We are grateful to have this opportunity."

This is the latest in a string of accolades for South Putnam High School relative to their performance in 2012-13. First, South Putnam High School was named to the Advanced Placement (AP) District Honor Roll by the College Board. Only 12 schools in all of Indiana qualified for this distinction.

South Putnam qualified by increasing access to AP course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of three or higher on AP Exams.

Next, the High School was awarded an "A" letter grade in 2011-12 and 2012-13 by the Indiana Department of Education. In addition, the school experienced a record graduation rate (94 percent).

"This is the first time our school has experienced this level of state-wide acknowledgement academically," Puckett said. "As with any honor our school receives, our teachers and students are the keys to our success. As a group, they have taken us to an unprecedented level of success, and I am extremely proud of them. The strength of our school lies in its culture. Our families, the children our community sends us, our staff and an administration (who have had continuity for eight years) have all led to great buy-in. The kids at South Putnam are thriving."