Avon Lake high School was assessed as the 21st best high school in Ohio and the 535th best in the country, according to the annual rankings prepared by U.S. News & World Report.
Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills High School ranked first in Ohio while Dallas, TX-based School for the Talented and Gifted was ranked No. 1 in the nations. More than 22,000 public high schools were reviewed.
The high school, which counted 1,171 students at the time of the study, received the silver medal and was praised for its participation rate (55 percent) in Advanced Placement courses. Students are also 96 percent proficient in reading and 93 percent proficient in math, according to the magazine. The school received a 44.4 out of 100 in the College Readiness index (based on the school's AP or IB participation rate). The AP® participation rate at Avon Lake High School is 55 percent.
Click here to see the methodology behind the rankings.
Superintendent of Schools Bob Scott was pleased with the school’s high ranking in the state and commented on the methodology.
“Being in the US News ranking is always appreciated and always something to proud of as a school and district,” Scott said. “Our students, staff and parents work very hard and this is an opportunity to say ‘good job.’”
Scott said it was important to remember that any ranking based on certain criteria and using a certain methodology is only a part of a much bigger picture.
“We would rank higher if we ‘pushed’ more students into AP classes, but we offer ‘Dual Credit Classes’ instead,” he said. “It is not counted in this calculation, but we feel it meets the needs of a different segment of our student population.
“We do like the fact that to get to step 3 of the methodology you have to make the grade in other areas that do look at ‘all’ students rather than just college prep.”
The report also provided a snapshot of the high school. The student body makeup is 52 percent male and 48 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 4 percent. The school counts 71 teachers and has a 16:1 student/teacher ratio.
Last June, the school broke into the top 500 public schools on a similar Newsweek list.
Read more about Avon Lake’s ranking over at U.S. News and World Report. See the full list of schools here.
Carol Murphy
9:07 am on Thursday, May 10, 2012
Congratulations to the administration, staff, employees and students. This is a TEAM WIN for everyone including our community!