Our staff members got an early present before leaving for Christmas break when we learned the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District climbed a letter grade in the 2015 District Performance Scores and is now a B district.

The state Department of Education releases Report Cards on districts and schools each year as a way to measure their progress.

For the past several years, the district has improved its number score each year, yet maintained a C letter grade — that’s why the news that we are now on the “Honor Roll” was met with such excitement across our campuses.

Superintendent Kevin George and his administration have set the goal to become a top 10 school district. And although numbers, and definitely not letter grades, can ever tell the whole story, they are a good indication that we are on the right track and that every day is a step closer to reaching that goal.

There are a number of things that have been implemented that are paying off.

Last year, St. John adopted a more rigorous curriculum for English language arts called Louisiana Guidebooks and for math called Eureka Math, which are pushing our students daily in their classrooms.

The district has also developed an impressive group of teacher leaders. These teachers receive extra professional development in best practices in the core subjects.

They then return to their school sites to work with their fellow teachers and to be a resource on the ground at each school for their fellow educators.

Other positives from our Report Cards are that we now have two A-rated schools, West St. John High School and John L. Ory Communication Arts Magnet School. Two schools, West St. John Elementary and Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, showed huge growth and increased their scores by double digits. The majority of schools maintained or improved their letter grades.

In addition, our District Report Card shows that we are succeeding at giving our students a head start on college. The report shows 74 percent of our graduates earn college credit while still in high school through dual enrollment, compared to just 28 percent of graduates statewide. We are also beating the state average for graduates who enter high school and graduate four years later, 77 percent in our district compared to 75 percent statewide.

None of this would be possible without the right people — both those within and outside our walls.

Our employees, from the central office, to principals, teachers, counselors, bus drivers, lunchroom workers, custodians and others work hard every day to serve our students. Our community members and business partners who give of their time and money also contribute to these gains.

And, of course, we couldn’t do it without our parents, grandparents and other relatives who support their schools.

We know we still have plenty of work to do and many more improvements to make. So we’ll celebrate over the holiday break but return in January ready to work harder than ever to meet our goals.

In the meantime, may each of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jennifer Boquet is the communications specialist for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. Email her at jboquet@stjohn.k12.la.us.