BAR HARBOR — The four elementary schools on Mount Desert Island and Trenton Elementary, the newest member of the local school system, exceeded both the federal standard for adequate yearly progress (AYP) and the state average in the math portion of the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) exams last May.

All five schools also exceeded the AYP standard in writing, and all except Trenton scored higher than the state average.

Rob Liebow, superintendent of the Mount Desert Island Regional School System, cautioned that Trenton’s grade needed to be kept in perspective.

“If a school fails to meet the standard in a particular area for two or three years, then that tells us there is a problem we need to focus on,” he said. “But a one-time snapshot can be influenced by a number of factors and isn’t necessarily indicative of the quality of instruction.”

Every student in third through eighth grades takes the MEA tests.

For more education news, pick up a copy of the Mount Desert Islander.

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