BEYOND THE NUMBERS

Norristown Area School District looking to continue growth and improvement

WEST NORRITON » Against the mean averages for all 24 of Montgomery County’s high schools, Norristown rated 467 in math, 464 verbal and 931 total.

The top district, Harriton, led the county at a 1257 overall score.

Looking at the SAT scores for high schools in the state recently released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, a perfect score is 1600 and the lowest possible score is 400.

“I try not to get caught up in all of that. I look at how we’re doing against ourselves,” noted Christopher Dormer, superintendent of Norristown Area School District. “I just want to see us improve from where we are and see better opportunities for our kids. Since I’ve been here as superintendent we’ve really been focusing on our curriculum and adding relevancy. “We know it’s going to take time and we’re focused on growth across the board. As we continue down the road of academic improvement, as our curriculum evolves and our systems evolve, and as teachers we have more opportunities to work under our realigned curriculum frameworks we expect we’ll see improvement and growth to continue in the future.”

The SAT remains one of the key factors used by college admissions boards in evaluating applications, but with the SAT score’s relevance coming under scrutiny in recent years, Dormer said it’s still just one measure on a student’s abilities.

In Montgomery County, Harriton was followed by Lower Merion High

GARY PULEO — MEDIANEWS GROUP Christopher Dormer seen at a school board meeting after distributing school jackets to board members as gifts.

GARY PULEO — MEDIANEWS GROUP Christopher Dormer, far right, at a school board meeting with, from left solicitor Peter Amuso and board president Shae Ashe.