FLINT -- Some Genesee County schools are under the microscope to close wide achievement gaps after the state released revamped report cards Thursday.

The new ranking system rewards the top-performing schools in the state, while it warns the bottom 5 percent based on student achievement.  It puts schools in one of three categories.

Schools in the top 5 percent based on student achievement were designated “Reward” schools.

Schools in the bottom 5 percent were placed in the “Priority” category.

Schools showing wide achievement gaps between certain student populations were placed in the “Focus” category.

In Genesee County, 7 schools are designated Reward schools, 10 as Priority school and 7 as Focus schools.

Reward schools:
Goodrich Reid Elementary School
Grand Blanc City School
Grand Blanc Indian Hill Elementary School
LakeVille Otter Lake Elementary School
Linden Central Elementary School
Montrose Hill-McCloy High School
Mt. Morris E.A. Johnson Memorial High School

Priority schools:
Academy of Flint
Beecher High School
Beecher Tucker Elementary School
Flint Brownell School
Flint Cummings School
Flint Holmes Foundation
Flint McKinley Foundation
Flint Neithercut Elementary School
Flint Northern High School
Flint Summerfield School

Focus schools:
Clio George R. Carter Middle School
Davison Central Elementary School
Davison Gates Elementary School
Flint Durant Tuuri Mott School
GISD Elmer A. Knopf Learning Center
GISD Marion D. Crouse Instr. Center
South Bendle Elementary School

Nine schools in the Priority and Focus categories are in the Flint school district.  Superintendent Linda Thompson said the results are not particularly surprising.

"A couple of the schools are our alternative sites, which is always a challenge,” Thompson said.

"Schools that year after year perform well are still performing,” she added, was a positive take-away in the report.

Mt. Morris Schools Superintendent Tricia Hill was pleased to see the report card recognized progress at the high school, which was named a Reward school in the report card.  Hill credited the improvement to reforms the district put in place, such as hiring more math teacher and mandating after school classes.

For individual school and district data, visit www.MISchoolData.org