Some Northwest Arkansas school officials were excited Tuesday to find out their schools made a national list of the top 1,000 public high schools as well as being listed among the top 10 schools in the state.
The list was published this week by U.S. News & World Report. Officials reviewed 31,242 public high schools, according to the U.S. News & World Report website.
Web Watch
Rankings List
To see the full list of 2014 public high school national rankings from the U.S. News and World Report, go to: www.usnews.com/educ….
At A Glance
Top Arkansas Public High Schools
• 1: Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville
• 2 : Kipp Delta Collegiate High School in Helena
• 3: Bentonville High School
• 4: Rogers High School
• 5: Heritage High School
• 6 : Pea Ridge High School
• 7: Greenbrier High School
• 8: Parkers Chapel High School in El Dorado
• 9: Lakeside High School in Hot Springs
• 10: Eureka Springs High School
Source: U.S. News and World Report
Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville was ranked number one in Arkansas and number 137 in the nation, according to the website. This is the third year in a row the school has been ranked tops in the state, said Martin Schoppmeyer, superintendent.
"It's validation of our academic scholars, our students and our parents who value education," he said.
Schoppmeyer said his goal is for the school to reach number one in the nation.
"Anything's possible if you put your mind to it," he said.
Ranking reports help schools because it gives them motivation to excel, Schoppmeyer said.
"Complacency is not an option," he said. "That's not what this is about. This is about trying to better ourselves each and every year."
Bentonville High School dropped one place in the state rankings from last year, but did better in national rankings, said Chad Scott, principal. Last year the school was second in the state and is number three this year. It got a national ranking of 580 this year but was 759 last year.
Schools ranked in the top 500 in the nation are ranked as gold schools, according to the U.S. News and World Report website. Scott said he would like to see Bentonville High School achieve a gold status.
"We're just trying to get better," he said. "That's our mindset always."
Scott said the recognition helps create a positive culture at the school and a positive perception about the school.
Rogers High School is ranked fourth in the state and 837 nationally, according to the website. It's the third year in the row the school has made the list, and one of the highest statewide rankings they've received, said Charles Lee, principal.
Lee said the recognition shows the administrators' and teachers' commitment to rigorous curriculum, which will help the students when they get to college.
Heritage High School is ranked fifth in the state and 885 nationally, according to the website. It was also on the national list and in the top 10 in the state last year, said Darla Tomasko, assistant principal.
The recognition is a marketing tool for the school, Tomasko said. When people are moving to the area, they look at the schools their children will attend. Parents will even ask to tour the school and "interview" staff members.
"It's a drawing point for our area," she said.
U.S News & World Report staff published their first list of rankings for public high schools in 2007, said Sophia Sherry, communications and public relations coordinator.
To create the list of rankings, magazine officials looked at results from reading and math proficiency tests, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test data and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate class enrollment, according to a document about the ranking methods. Data used in creating the rankings is from the 2011-12 school year.
NW News on 04/23/2014