School Report Cards and the long tail of COVID-19 in McHenry County: ‘You don’t get back’ missed time

This year’s high school seniors were in seventh and eighth grades when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their world. Freshmen saw their fourth- and fifth-grade years largely defined by the pandemic.

“They were going into or coming out of middle school during the pandemic,” said Carl Vallianatos, assistant superintendent for learning and innovation in McHenry High School District 156. “You don’t get that back.”

McHenry High is “still working toward and combating deficiencies” in student learning from those years when students began virtual learning, Vallianatos said.

[ Dig into the data: Can McHenry County students read and do math at grade level? ]

The Illinois State Board of Education released its 2024 school report cards Wednesday. The scores reflect results of testing in spring 2023.

Some McHenry County district administrators noted that scores reported by the state are now nearing or exceeding their scores pre-pandemic, even with those losses.

“Overall the scores are higher than before the pandemic,” said Mike Moan, superintendent at Woodstock School District 200.

Amy MacCrindle, assistant superintendent for learning and innovation at Huntley School District 158, said the district is seeing a similar result.

“We are getting close to or surpassing where we were during and before the pandemic,” MacCrindle said.

Overall, administrators in Crystal Lake, Huntley, McHenry and Woodstock schools said their schools are doing well.

[ Read more: How did my McHenry County school do on the 2024 Illinois School Report Card? ]

“We are very proud of the work and the scores in literacy and math in the elementary and middle school grades,” MacCrindle said.

A majority of District 158 schools saw increases in their reading scores, but the district saw dips in math at two of its elementary schools.

The district began a new, ISBE literacy plan four or five years ago, MacCrindle said.

“We are excited to see our literacy scores ... and math is making a rebound. We still need to prioritize” in that area, she said, noting a recent change to the curriculum means it may take time for everyone to catch on.

Crystal Lake School District 47 also reports improvements in its reading scores but math scores “slightly below the district’s goals,” according to a prepared release from the district, which also said “a new math curriculum has been implemented this year to address these scores.”

Three District 200 schools saw decreases in their math scores, but overall, a slight increase in students reached the proficiency threshold. Moan noted that as the district’s elementary schools have small populations, only a handful of students can throw off those scores.

“Endres [Elementary School] has such a small number that four, five, six kids can make a big difference,” Moan said.

That school saw just a slight drop in its math scores but a large increase in reading results.

In its release of the 2024 school report cards, the Illinois State Board of Education noted that schools with strong Advanced Placement and technical training programs were seeing higher graduation rates across the board. Overall, the state’s graduation rate has risen to 87.7%.

High graduation rates have never been a problem for many McHenry County school districts. But students are seeing “a lot more alignment with [their] interests with a lot more engagements and real-world applications” in their coursework, said Neil Lesinski, superintendent at Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155.

He pointed to the district’s three-year-old certified nursing assistant class. Since that program began, 94 students have earned CNA certification, five of whom are working in area hospitals and 30 of whom are working at area skilled nursing homes or in long-term care.

“The course has paid dividends for our students,” Lesinski said.

AP and dual-credit courses “have created a lot of access for a lot of different kinds of students” in McHenry High School, Vallianatos said. “With our career focus ... it is a set of skills we want all students to have. It creates many different relevant pathways for kids to become passionate about.”