Newsweek’s list of top U.S. high school shows Westport’s Staples High School fourth among 13 Connecticut schools making the list.
In its May 28 issue, Newsweek ranked Staples No. 415 out of 1,358 schools on the list and fourth in the state behind Farmington (157), Weston (226), and Conrad (West Hartford) (412).
Staples came out ahead of Ridgefield (551), Wilton (565), Greenwich (689), Darien (797), and Joel Barlow-Redding (1178) in Fairfield County. Last year, Staples was No. 402 on the list.
Newsweek said its list was compiled according to a single metric—the proportion of students taking college-level exams: Cambridge, International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement.
“We count the total number of these tests taken at a school by all students each May, and divide by the number of graduating seniors,” the magazine said.
“Any school with a ratio of 1.000 or higher is placed on the Newsweek list. Over the years this system has come in for its share of criticism for its simplicity. But that is also its strength: it’s easy for readers to understand, and to do the arithmetic for their own schools if they’d like.”
Newsweek said every school on its list is in the top 5 percent of U.S. public schools measured this way.
I saw this a couple of days ago and came to the same conclusion. I became suspicious when three Florida schools were in the top 10 and an Arizona school was number 1. Ironically the Az school was also rated the number one party school and the Fl school had the highest percentage of teachers dating students.
I actually just blogged about this. As a Staples alumnus and current Greenwich High School teacher, I couldn’t resist. It’s here: http://jwasserman.edublogs.org/2008/05/22/is-it-okay-to-throw-up-a-little-now/
I don’t necessarily discourage my students from taking AP classes, but I ask them to think carefully before they ask for the recommendation from me (which, of course, they can go around anyway). Is it worth the extra stress of taking a class that’s geared towards an exam? How many other AP classes are they planning on taking? And most importantly, WHY are they taking these classes?
Now that I have been through the senior/college application etc. process, I solidified my feelings about AP courses in general. I applaued the desire to take classes at the college level in High School, but it harkens back to our kids trying to be older sooner. Believe me we get older soon enough. I want my 12 year old to be a twelve year old not a 19 year old. There is too much pressure on kids today. Colleges do look at AP and honors classes during the application process. They do carry weight, but they are only part of the weight. It is easy to get into honors or AP classes…the problem is getting through them. Several times I pulled my child from them. If there are other issues (she was Ill for a while) you can fall behind the eight ball rather quickly. Therefore the GPA will suffer and that, in my opinion, can hurt. Is it better to be an A student or a B student due to AP courses?
Everything in moderation and take all these rankings with a grain of salt. Staples is a great school and very well respected by colleges. But at the end of the day it is all about the best fit and package offerings and you know the rest….
“Freak Factory…” Ha
All very interesting. In a similar study by U.S. News and World Report last year, Staples didn’t make their list at all. Their # 1 Best High School winner? Montpelier High School in Vermont. The criteria was somewhat different, but AP classes did figure into it.
USN℘used to change up the weighting of their criteria every year. This would make the lists different and enable them to sell a lot of magazines.