Seven Carroll County elementary and middle schools were named in this year’s list of Georgia Department of Education Reward Schools.

Reward Schools are Georgia schools with the highest performance or biggest academic gains by students in the last three years.

Ithica Elementary and Roopville Elementary were named to the Highest-Performing Schools list, which means they are among the top 5 percent of Title I schools in Georgia. To make the list, a school must make Adequate Yearly Progress in all groups and subgroups in 2011.

Central Elementary, Mt. Zion Elementary, Sharp Creek Elementary, Villa Rica Elementary and Villa Rica Middle made the list of High-Progress Schools, meaning they are among the top 10 percent of Title I schools in Georgia and that they are making the most progress to improve student performance on statewide assessments like the CRCT.

Carroll County Schools Superintendent Scott Cowart said he and other school administrators are “proud of the great job our teachers, students and administrators are doing.”

“We see it as validation of good work done by our students, teachers and administrators to improve student achievement,” Cowart said. “We think it reflects what’s been happening in our schools and what continues to happen in them.”

Cowart described both categories as “excellent recognitions” for the seven schools.

“These schools, and all our schools, have worked hard to increase parent involvement, which goes a long way in increasing student engagement, which is a huge factor for making this kind of progress.”

Cowart said he is “proud and tickled” with the recognitions.

A Highest-Performing School is a Title I school among the 5 percent of Title I schools in the state that has the highest absolute performance over three years for the “all students” group on the statewide assessments.

A school may not be classified as a Highest-Performing School if there are significant achievement gaps across subgroups that are not closing in the school.

A High-Progress School is a Title I school among the 10 percent of Title I schools in the state that is making the msot progress in improving the performance of the “all students” group over three years on the statewide assessments.

A school may not be classified as a High-Prorgress School if there are significant achievement gaps.

“These schools are shining examples of what we can achieve in public education in Georgia,” state Superintendent Dr. John Barge said. “I want to take what’s working at our Reward Schools and replicate that in every school in the state. These are the schools making education work for all Georgians.”

Ithica Elementary and Roopville Elementary were in a group of 78 schools on the Highest Performing list, while the other five schools were on the High Progress list with 151 other Georgia schools.