Houston R-1 School District

In the coming days or weeks, you may begin hearing about a new A–F school rating system for public schools across Missouri. I wanted you to hear a little about this directly from me before the ratings are released.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is developing this new system following an executive order signed by Governor Mike Kehoe earlier this year. The initial ratings are part of a pilot program, meaning the system is still being developed and may change. These ratings are based on academic data from the 2024–2025 school year.

While I absolutely believe in accountability and transparency, I do have some concerns about how quickly this system has been rolled out and how the results may be interpreted. Missouri schools are already evaluated through the Annual Performance Report (APR) and Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6). Adding another rating system, especially one that is still being refined, has the potential to create more confusion than clarity.

My biggest concern is that a single letter grade simply cannot tell the whole story of a school district. It doesn’t capture the relationships our teachers build with students, the opportunities we provide, the individual growth of our children, or the many things happening in our classrooms and schools every day.

That being said, we know we have areas where we need to improve, particularly when it comes to academic achievement. We recognize those challenges, and we are not interested in making excuses. In fact, we have spent considerable time developing our new Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) and Building School Improvement Plans (BSIPs) to help guide that work. These plans focus on improving instruction, supporting our teachers, strengthening student achievement, and creating meaningful opportunities for our students.

This work was underway long before the A–F system was introduced, and it will continue regardless of what letter grade we receive.

Our district theme for this year, Different by Design—Creating the Experiences Our Students Need for Their Future, is about much more than test scores. One of the exciting pieces of our work is developing a Portrait of a Graduate, which will help us define the knowledge, skills, and experiences we want every Houston R-I student to have when they graduate. Alongside this work, we are placing a greater emphasis on Real World Learning (RWL)—creating opportunities for students to connect what they learn in the classroom to real-life experiences, careers, and their future. We want our students to be successful academically, but we also want them to be critical thinkers, problem-solvers, effective communicators, and young adults who are prepared for whatever comes next.

These are important parts of a quality education that simply cannot be measured by a single letter grade.

As the state releases more information, we will continue to share what we learn and help our families understand what these ratings mean—and what they don’t mean.

I hope our community will view these ratings as one piece of a much bigger picture. We have a lot to be proud of at Houston R-I, and we also have important work ahead of us. Both can be true.

At the end of the day, our greatest accountability is to the students, families, and community we serve—not simply a letter assigned by the state.

Thank you for your continued support and trust in our schools. We are fortunate to have a community that cares deeply about its kids, and I look forward to continuing this work together.

Dr. Justin Copley

Superintendent of Schools

Houston R-I School District