Greeneville schools continue to show strong academic achievement, according to a report presented to the Greeneville Board of Education meeting on Thursday.

The Tennessee Department of Education Report Card, released by the state on Nov. 1 and originally reported on by The Greeneville Sun in early November, showed that the school system's achievement scores are above the state average in every academic area for grades three through eight.

The system's straight A's in academic achievement and writing at every tested grade level continue a consistent three-year trend of all A's.

"We are very, very, very pleased with the results," said Assistant Director of Schools for Instruction Suzanne Bryant, in her formal report to the board on Thursday night.

Bryant also reported on non-academic indicators of achievement such as attendance and graduation rates.

There was a 96.2 percent attendance rate for kindergarten through eighth grades and a 96.5 percent attendance rate for grades nine through 12.

The promotion rate for kindergarten through eighth grade was reported at 98.8 percent.

At the same time, the high school graduation rate increased to 97.4 percent.

"That is just amazing. We are very, very, very proud of our teachers and students for that graduation rate. I think that speaks a lot about our school system," Bryant said.

In comparison with the rest of the state, students at Greeneville High School attained higher proficiency scores than the state average in all areas of academic achievement.

GHS students also achieved higher composite scores on the ACT college entrance exam than the state average.

The GHS composite score was reported at 21.4 compared with a state composite score of 19.2.

"We are above the state in every area of academic achievement," Bryant said. "We have good growth in all areas that we are measured in.

"For many years in a row we've had straight A's [on the state report card] in achievement, and that's something to be really proud of," she added.

Editor's note: The Greeneville Sun published a detailed news story about the Report Card results on Nov. 6. Today's article focuses on the formal presentation of the results to the Greeneville Board of Education.