By Brian Wedemeyer
Independent Managing Editor
In the eyes of the Arizona Department of Education at least, Thunderbolt Middle School in Lake Havasu City and Manzanita Elementary in Kingman are the cream of the crop in Mohave County.
They are the only two schools in Mohave County that received both an “Excelling” label and an “A” grade under the state’s newest rating system for the 2010-11 school year.
As a district, Lake Havasu Unified topped all others in the region with an overall “B” on the state’s new report card. Five of eight schools in Lake Havasu Unified received an “A” grade and two received a “B.” Lake Havasu High took a “C.”
“(The district) did well this past year,” said Superintendent Gail Malay. “A lot of hard work and teamwork are behind these results.”
It was Thunderbolt’s fifth consecutive year with an “Excelling” label. Former Principal Paul Olson resigned before the start of this year and is now serving as vice principal at Parker High School. He pointed out that former Daytona Middle School merged into Thunderbolt prior to last school year, and thanked its principal Hector Fimbres for his leadership during the transition. Fimbres is now the vice principal at Thunderbolt.
“I commend and thank the staff of 2010-11, along with the student body and the parents,” Olson said. “This is the result of everyone’s hard work and dedication for high academic excellence.”
State School Superintendent John Huppenthal implemented the new letter grade system, which is based primarily on the number of students passing AIMS each year and the number of students who grow academically. Dropout rates, graduation rates, and ELL reclassification rates can be taken into consideration.
“Parents benefit by having, at their fingertips, an easy-to-understand, equitable school grading system when deciding which educational environment best meets their children needs,” Huppenthal wrote in a recent letter to parents around the state. “Schools benefit by identifying both areas of strength and areas that need improvement.
“While schools cannot control the knowledge level of new students … they can affect and are responsible for how much their full-academic year students learn from one grade to the next. The new accountability system measures and compares this student learning on a school-by-school basis.”
Here are the results for most schools in Mohave County and the Parker area:
BULLHEAD CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Bullhead City Junior High
AZLEARNS- Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
Coyote Canyon School
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
Desert Valley School
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
Diamondback Elementary School
AZLEARNS – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – B
Fox Creek Junior High
AZLEARNS – Peforming Plus
Letter Grade – C
Mountain View Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
Sunrise Elementary
AZLEARNS – Peforming Plus
Letter Grade – B
COLORADO CITY UNIFIED
El Capitan Public School
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
COLORADO RIVER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Mohave High School
AZLEARNS —Performing
Letter Grade – B
River Valley High School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – B
KINGMAN ACADEMY OF LEARNING
Kingman Academy High School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – B
Kingman Academy Intermediate
AZLEARNS – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – A
Kingman Academy Middle School
AZLEARNS –Performing Plus
Letter Grade — C
Kingman Academy Primary School
AZLEARNS — Excelling
KINGMAN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Black Mountain Elementary School
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
Cerbat Elementary
AZLEARNS – Underperforming
Letter Grade – D
Hualapi Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
Kingman High School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – C
Kingman Middle School
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
La Senita Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – A
Manzanita Elementary
AZLEARNS — Excelling
Letter Grade – A
Mt. Tipton Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
Palo Christi Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
White Cliffs Middle School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – D
LAKE HAVASU UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Havasupai Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
Jamaica Elementary
AZLEARNS –Highly Performing
Letter Grade – A
Lake Havasu High School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – C
Nautilus Elementary
AZLEARNS – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – A
Oro Grande Elementary
AZLEARNING – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – A
Smoketree Elementary
AZLEARNS – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – A
Starline Elementary
AZLEARNS – Excelling
Letter Grade – B
Thunderbolt Middle School
AZLEARNS — Excelling
Letter Grade – A
LITTLEFIELD UNIFIED DISTRICT
Beaver Dam Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – D
Beaver Dam High School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – C
Masada Charter School, Inc.
AZLEARNS – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – A
Mohave Accelerated Elementary School
AZLEARNS –Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
MOHAVE ELEMENTARY DISTRICT
Camp Mohave Elementary
AZLEARNS –Peforming Plus
Letter Grade – C
Fort Mohave Elementary
AZLEARNS – Peforming Plus
Letter Grade – C
Mohave Valley Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
Mohave Valley Junior High
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – B
PEACH SPRINGS UNIFIED
Peach Springs School
AZLEARNS – Underperforming
Letter Grade – D
TELESIS CENTER FOR LEARNING
Telesis Preparatory
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
TOPOCK ELEMENTARY DISTRICT
Topock Elementary School
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter Grade – C
YOUNG SCHOLARS ACADEMY

AZLEARNS – Highly Performing
Letter Grade – B

PARKER UNIFIED
Blake Primary
AZ LEARNS – Peforming
Letter grade – B
La Pera Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing Plus
Letter grade – C
Parker High School
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – D
Wallace Elementary
AZLEARNS – Performing
Letter Grade – D
Wallace Junior High
AZLEARNS – Peforming Plus
Letter Grade – C