Today, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) named East Carter High School as its third Hub School, joining Franklin-Simpson High School and Pulaski County High School, which were named Hub Schools last year. These schools have shown results of exponentially more college- or career-ready students than other schools and are selected based on data, monitoring visits and monitoring tools.

Commissioner Terry Holliday called East Carter a Kentucky public education success story.

“East Carter is a shining example of how a school can turn around as the result of clear direction, dedication and hard work on the part of faculty, staff and students. You have proven to others, it can be done,” he said.

In 2010, East Carter High School was named a Priority School based on test scores in the bottom 5 percent of the state. This year, due to operational and instructional changes, East Carter High ranks in the 94th percentile of the state with a Distinguished/High Performing rating. It boasts a 93.8 college/career-readiness rate, a 98.6 graduation rate and has exited Priority School status.

The purpose of each Hub School is to capture its own best or promising practices based on data and results and to connect with other schools in the region, with emphasis on connections with those schools that have a Focus designation.

Hub Schools are hubs of support and learning activity for both students and adults. During the 2013-14 school year, 625 representatives of 89 schools and districts visited the first two Hub Schools to learn about Career and Technical Education Pathway/Program Improvement, the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System, communication for capacity-building, Response to Intervention, monitoring student data for gap closure, professional learning communities, a systems approach to continuous improvement and data analysis.

In addition, the Hub Schools are knowledgeable of the promising/best practices from other Priority Schools and can be used to strengthen connections and address multiple needs within their geographic area.