The State Education Department recently released its reports on the standardized testing results for grades 3 through 12, providing statistical data on the performance of area students. The state had previously issued its Incidents of Unlawful Behavior report, which had gone unnoticed until the Columbine High School shooting sparked a media frenzy and media sources sought data on violence in schools across the country. Parents with children in the Garden City Public Schools can breathe a little easier, as Garden City scored very well on the state report cards and had one of the lowest incidents per 100 students in the crime report of any of the high schools in the area.

Garden City High School was found to have 2.6 incidents per 100 students. With an enrollment of 912 students and 24 total reported incidents, GCHS scored about average in Nassau County. In terms of per 100 students, Herricks High School, Bethpage High School, East Meadow High School, West Tresper Clarke High School, East Rockaway High School, Wheatley School, Jericho High School, Lynbrook High School, Manhasset High School, Massapequa High School, Oceanside High School, South Side High School, Roslyn High School, Elmont Memorial High School, Floral Park Memorial High School, H. Frank Carey High School, New Hyde Park Memorial High School, and Sewanhaka High School all had fewer reported incidents than GCHS, which does not mean these districts had fewer total incidents, rather fewer percentagewise related to the school's population.

Districts that scored the worst in terms of incidents per 100 students were: Farmingdale, with 10.4; Glen Cove High School with 8.4; Hempstead High School with 11.9; Hicksville High School with 9.2; Division Avenue High School with 14.5; Gen. Douglas MacArthur High School with 23.5; Locust Valley High School with 9.3; Long Beach High School with 11.8; Malverne High School with 13.8; Mineola High School with 12.5; Oyster Bay High School with 11.6; Roosevelt High School with 22.7; Seaford High School with 12.0; Uniondale High School with 20.1; and Westbury High School with 15.7.

At Garden City High School, there were no reported robberies and other major crimes or weapons incidents reported. There were four reported assault and battery incidents, two drug incidents, two alcohol incidents, ten smoking incidents, five vandalism incidents, and one "other." "Other" includes crimes such as theft, threats, sexual harassment, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. Of course these figures do not necessarily indicate that these were the only incidents that occurred at any of these schools, rather, these are the number of incidents reported to the state by the districts for offenses on school property between July 1997 and June 1998.

In terms of academic achievement, Garden City did well comparatively. Of the third grade students who took the standardized reading test at Stewart School, 98 percent got 28 or more questions out of 56 total correct and 81 percent got 41 or more correct. At Stratford School, the scores were even higher, with 99 percent scoring 28 or more correct and 90 percent got 41 or more correct. At both elementary schools, 100 percent of the students scored above remedial level on the state's fifth grade writing test.

At Garden City Middle School, 97 percent of the sixth grade students got 49 or more out of 77 questions on the reading exam and 94 percent got 54 or more correct. A total of 74 percent of the sixth grade students scored in the distinction level, answering 64 or more questions correctly. A perfect score of 100 percent of the students in the sixth grade got 23 or more out of 65 questions correct on the state's math test.

At Garden City High School, 94 percent of the students in the ninth grade scored 55 or better on the Regents Math I Exam and 93 percent scored 65 or better. On the English Regents Exam, 94 percent of the seniors got a 55 or better and 92 percent scored 65 or better. Of the students who took the Sequential Math III Exam, 72 percent scored 65 or better and 38 percent scored 85 or better. All 100 percent of the students who took the Biology Regents Exam passed with a score of 65 or better and 67 percent received an 85 or better.

Of the students who took the Chemistry Regents Exam, 72 percent passed with a score of 65 or better. On the U.S. History Exam, 90 percent of the high school students at GCHS passed with a score of 65 or better and 52 percent scored 85 or better. On the Global Studies Regents Exam, 90 percent passed and 48 percent scored 85 or better. The percentage of students who passed a high school foreign language exam was 91 percent with 63 percent scoring 85 or better. Of the total student enrollment, 75 percent of the students will receive a Regents Diploma and 86.25 percent of the students will go on to a four-year college and 5.83 percent will go on to a two-year college.

The only school in Nassau County with a higher percentage of students passing the Sequential I Math test was The Wheatley School with 97 percent. Great Neck North and Great Neck South, as well as Jericho Senior High School all tied Garden City High School at 94 percent and were followed closely by Manhasset High School, Locust Valley High School and George W. Hewlett High School. The Wheatley School had the highest number of students pass the math exam with 65 or better, followed by Garden City High School and then the Great Neck Schools.

On the English Exam, Garden City High School was outscored in terms of the percentage of passing students only by The Wheatley School, John F. Kennedy High School, Wellington C. Mepham High School, Great Neck South High School, Jericho Senior High School, Lynbrook Senior High School, Valley Stream Central High School and General Douglas MacArthur Senior High School.

Among the lowest scoring schools in math were Hempstead High School, Lawrence Senior High School, Malverne Senior High School, Uniondale High School, and Westbury Senior High School, with fewer than 50 percent of the students scoring 55 or better. Among the lowest scoring schools in terms of the English Regents were Hempstead High School and Westbury High School with fewer than 50 percent of the students passing.

Several districts did not report their Regents scores as they have been approved by the state to use an alternative means of testing, such as Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School and Plainedge Senior High School. The district with the highest reported number of students going on to a four-year college after graduation is Jericho Senior High School with 94.19 percent. John F. Kennedy High School and Jericho Senior High School tied at 80 percent for the highest number of students receiving Regents Diplomas.

Comparatively, Garden City is one of the highest scoring districts in Nassau County, a fact which is certainly a tribute to the students, teachers, and parents, who continue to promote excellence and achievement.