As officials expected, two schools in Brownsboro and one in Chandler have been rated “exemplary” after the Texas Education Agency released its high-stakes testing results on Friday.

“We were excited it was how we figured it would be,” Assistant Superintendent Vicki York said.

Chandler Elementary School received the state’s top rating for the third straight year. The other campuses to receive the “exemplary” rating are Brownsboro Elementary School and Brownsboro Junior High School.

“It’s the most ‘exemplary’ campuses we’ve ever had,” York said. “The two elementary schools have been ‘exemplary’ for quite a few years, but the junior high has worked really, really hard.”

Brownsboro High School, Brownsboro Intermediate School, and Chandler Intermediate School were labeled “recognized.”

The ratings are consistent with preliminary tabulations released by the Brownsboro Independent School District in June, but they were not official until the state formalized or adjusted scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS, test.

The district was rated “recognized.”

According to a TEA press release, more rigorous standards were implemented this year to determine the state’s “recognized” rating. The new standards require 80 percent of all students and each evaluated student group to pass the TAKS, compared to 75 percent in previous years.

Additionally, the school or district must achieve an 85-percent completion rate and must have an annual seventh- and eighth-grade dropout rate of 1.8 percent or below.

The previous seventhand eighth-grade dropout rate requirement was 2 percent.

To be included in the state’s accountability ratings, students must have been enrolled on the last Friday in October and have taken the TAKS test.

Only third-graders are tested at the elementary level, in reading and math. Seventh-graders are tested in reading, math, and writing, while eighth-graders are tested in social studies, science, math and reading.

Most grade levels tested scored at or above the Texas average. About 2,000 students of 2,842 enrolled in the district were tested.

Murchison Elementary School, the only campus in the Murchison Independent School District, was rated “recognized.”