Pettus Independent School District students performed exemplary on several areas of the state-mandated TAKS exam last year, according to a report released Monday.

Pettus students districtwide earned A’s in reading/English language arts, social studies and writing sections of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam last school year, according to preliminary results released to the school district.

The Pettus ISD is expected to receive a “recognized” rating for its test scores on the math portion of the exam.

The Texas Education Agency released the preliminary results to school districts statewide last week.

Pettus school administrators shared the results with trustees during Monday night’s board meeting.

The Texas Education Agency rates school districts and individual campuses as “needs improvement,” “acceptable,” “recognized” or “exemplary.”

The final ratings will come out in August.

“We are very pleased with our scores and continuous improvement in all areas on the district level,” said Pettus ISD Superintendent Tucker Rackley.

Pettus ISD has TAKS test scores of 94 percent in reading/English language arts, 88 percent in math, 96 percent in writing, 73 percent in science and 93 percent in social studies, according to the preliminary results.

“This means our district is at the level of an exemplary rating for reading/English language arts, writing and social studies, and though the science results are at the acceptable level they are showing improvement over previous years,” Rackley said.

Pettus ISD is likely to receive a ranking of “recognized” for students’ scores on the math portion of the exam and “acceptable” for scores on the science portion of the exam, according to preliminary results.

Pettus Elementary School is likely to receive an exemplary rating, if preliminary results are any indication.

“It is exciting to see our elementary school reach the exemplary level with campus scores of 96 percent in reading, 97 percent in math, 96 percent in writing and 100 percent in science,” Rackley reported.

“Also, we are pleased with continued high scores at Pettus Secondary School with campus scores of 95 percent in reading/English language arts, 84 percent in math, 96 percent in writing and 93 percent in social studies. The secondary school score in science falls beneath our expectations at 67 percent, even though it is well above the state’s required passing rate of 50 percent for an acceptable rating in science.”

He said campus staff members have already pinpointed the areas of needed improvement in that subject.

“We continue to hold the highest level of expectations for our staff and students and look forward to continued improvement in 2009-2010,” Rackley said.