Civic Memorial High School Earns "Exemplary" Status; Principal Gets Tattoo to Celebrate
The data from the Illinois School Report Card puts CMHS in the top 10% of Illinois schools, prompting celebrations on Oct. 31, 2025.
BETHALTO - Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 students, faculty and administration celebrated a major achievement at a special assembly.
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On Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, the Civic Memorial High School community came together to recognize their new status as an “exemplary” school. The Illinois School Report Card data, which measures student achievement and school culture, released earlier this week. As an exemplary school, Civic Memorial is in the top 10% of schools in the state.
“We’re always celebrating kids. We’re always honoring our teachers and acknowledging them and lifting one another up. It’s just an incredible place to be,” said Superintendent Dr. Jill Griffin. “They’re all working together and they know they’re moving towards one common goal, so it’s incredible. It’s so exciting because it’s not an easy thing to accomplish.”
According to the Illinois School Report Card data for Civic Memorial, the high school has an impressive 98% graduation rate, with high ELA and math proficiency scores and a high percentage of ninth graders on track. During the assembly on Oct. 31, Principal Justin Newell commended the students for their hard work.
“It’s just validation for all the hard work of our students, staff, community members, administration, Board, everybody,” Newell said. “It’s just really cool that students bought in and helped make this happen.”
When preparing for the 2024–2025 school year testing, including the ACT, Newell promised students that he would get a tattoo if they scored high enough on the report card. True to his word, he went earlier this week to Epic Ink in Edwardsville to have the 93.17 exemplary score tattooed on his wrist by his former student, Bradley Dyer.
Students and staff prepared a special award for Newell in recognition of his devotion to the school. Griffin also expressed her appreciation for the high school principal.
“He’s pretty amazing,” she said. “He’s the captain of this ship, for sure.”
She added that CM staff has made “transformational changes” in the past few years that led to the school’s recognition, including the implementation of professional learning communities and the CM Next initiative, which encourages students to think about their career and college choices while still in high school.
Griffin also pointed out the school’s “phenomenal culture,” which was on display at the Oct. 31 assembly with students participating in games and cheering when they learned of their school’s exemplary status.
“It’s just a phenomenal culture,” she said. “I know it starts with [Newell], but everybody feels it, from the staff, the students, it’s just everybody coming together in a celebratory way.”
The district’s remaining four schools achieved a “commendable” status. You can see the full Illinois School Report Card data for Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 here.
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