[StBernard] VP schools make U.S. News and World Report's 2009 list of best high schools

[Westley Annis]

VP schools make U.S. News and World Report's 2009 list of best high schools

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By Staff reports
Leesville Daily Leader
Tue Dec 09, 2008, 08:22 AM CST 
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Baton Rouge, La. - 

Anacoco High School, Hornbeck High School and Pitkin High School were among
39 Louisiana high schools recognized by U.S. News and World Report as the
country's Best High Schools. The three schools received bronze medal
rankings. The news came as a pleasant surprise to on Friday. 

Gold and silver rankings were also awarded to schools throughout the state.
Benjamin Franklin Senior High School in New Orleans, which was ranked as the
16th best in the nation, earned a cherished gold medal and was the subject
of a feature story in the report, "The High School that Beat Katrina." To
derive the list, the magazine analyzed more than 21,000 public high schools
in 48 states.

"The Vernon Parish School Board and I are extremely proud that three of our
schools, Anacoco High School, Hornbeck High School and Pitkin High Schools
were among the 39 Louisiana Schools listed in the U.S. news and World
Report's 2009 List of Best High Schools.  We congratulate these principals,
teachers and students for their hard work. This recognition is deserved by
these schools," said Cindy Gillespie, superintendent of schools for Vernon
Parish. 

The principals were quick to pass on the credit to the teachers, students,
staff and parents. 

"Anacoco High School's success can be attributed to a rigorous academic
climate, lessons which are relevant to students in their transition from
school to work, and the support of a community that is grounded in high
moral standards and academic expectations," said Twanda Willrodt, vice
principal of Anacoco High School. 

Joey Whiddon, principal at Hornbeck High School echoed those remarks. 

"It's an honor, an humble honor," he said. "We've got staff, kids and a
community that really work hard to improve what we do on a daily basis. It's
not something that we're going to rest on, andit's noting that I do. It's
what my support staff, the teachers, kids and parents do." 



 "We are very proud to have so many of our state's high schools included on
the list," said State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek.
"Considering the tremendous role our high schools play in preparing our
young people to succeed in post-secondary education and careers, it is
beneficial to be included in this study and encouraging that the examination
resulted in such a positive report for our state."

 Four Louisiana high schools earned silver medals, including Baton Rouge
High School (East Baton Rouge Parish), Bolton High School (Rapides Parish),
Caddo Parish Magnet High School (Caddo Parish), and LSU Laboratory School
(East Baton Rouge Parish). All total, ten percent of the state's schools
that were evaluated earned a medal distinction - landing Louisiana at number
17 in terms of the percentage of schools in each state recognized on the
list.

Other area schools to attain recognition were Ebarb, Florien and Zwolle high
schools in Sabine Parish. 

 In collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data
research business run by Standard & Poors, U.S. News and World Report
analyzed academic and enrollment data from 21,069 schools using 2006-2007
information. The report is based on key principles that "a great high school
must serve all its students well, not just those who are bound for college
and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show
that the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of
performance indicators."

 The first two steps of the study relied on state proficiency standards and
considered statistics, such as the socio-economic levels of students, to
determine how well students in each school were performing compared to
similar students in the state. During the final step, schools that made it
past the first two steps were judged based on college-readiness measures.

 The list of Bronze Medal Schools in Louisiana includes Arcadia High School
and Castor High School (Bienville Parish); Avoyelles High School, Avoyelles
Public Charter School and Marksville High School (Avoyelles Parish); Berwick
High School (St. Mary Parish); Calvin High School (Winn Parish); Chalmette
High School (St. Bernard Parish); Forest School and Kilbourne High School
(West Carroll Parish); Gueydan High School (Vermilion Parish); Harrisonburg
High School and Sicily Island High School (Catahoula Parish); and Hathaway
High School (Jefferson Davis Parish); Holden High School (Livingston
Parish);  Lafayette High School (Lafayette Parish); Loreauville High School
(Iberia Parish); Lusher Charter School (Orleans Parish); Mamou High School
(Evangeline Parish); McKinley Senior High School (East Baton Rouge Parish);
Northshore High School (St. Tammany Parish); Phoenix High School
(Plaquemines Parish); Starks High School (Calcasieu Parish); St. James High
School (St. James Parish); Varnado High School (Washington Parish); West
Feliciana High School (West Feliciana Parish); Weston High School (Jackson
Parish); and Winnfield Senior High School (Winnfield Parish).

 "We want to congratulate district and school leaders as well as the faculty
and staff at these schools for their work and the honor of earning this
distinction," said Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President
Keith Guice. "We are eager to advance so that every high school makes the
list, as one of the key priorities for our state is the reformation of high
schools so that all students are prepared to thrive in the knowledge-based
economy and global market regardless of what direction they take after
high-school."

 To learn more about the report, including the methodology used to evaluate
schools, visit the U.S.News & World Report website.

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