Charles City High School ranked among the nation’s best

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

According to U.S. News and World Report, Charles City High School is among the best high schools in the United States.

CCHS was given a bronze rating in the publication’s 2018 ranking of “Best High Schools,” and is ranked 25th within Iowa.

Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college. The ranking was released Wednesday.

“This report is regarded as one of the best measurements of effective high schools in the country, so we are fortunate to be climbing up this list each year,” said Charles City High School Principal Josh Johnson.

Johnson said he was thrilled with the ranking, which he said was the highest Charles City has been ranked in recent memory. He credited the district’s investment in alternative programming to provide more opportunities to students, increasing advanced placement courses, and above-average exam scores as contributors.

“Credit goes to our staff for investing a substantial amount of professional development hours into improving our programming at CCHS, taking chances on  providing new opportunities for students, and for continuing to hold high academic standards for students,” Johnson said.

“Our students are the core of this ranking, they continue to take on new academic challenges that are given to them and continue to put up solid exam scores to represent the work being done,” he said.

The rankings were created by evaluating more than 20,500 public high schools nationwide, identifying those that best serve all students and assess the degree to which students are prepared for college-level coursework, the magazine said. Top-performing high schools receive gold, silver and bronze medal recognition, with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness.

According to the U.S. News and World Report website, the rankings can help parents identify top-notch schools in their area and see how these schools stack up nationally.

“It’s a phenomenal accomplishment for our district and our community,” said Jason Walker, president of the Charles City Community School District Board of Education.”It is a huge testament to the dedication of our staff, the commitment by our students and the strong support the community gives our district.”

The advanced placement (AP) participation rate at Charles City High School is 15 percent. The student body makeup is 50 percent male and 50 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 16 percent, according to the report.

“It’s a nice honor for the extra efforts by the staff and administration to provide a high-quality educational experience for students,” said Charles City Superintendent of Schools Dan Cox, who mentioned that over the past four years, CCHS teachers and administrators have introduced multiple interdisciplinary classes, five AP classes, the Iowa BIG North program and the Tiny House project.

“It all makes for a more engaging, inspiring and empowering student experience in high school,” Cox said.

A total of 104 bronze medals were awarded to schools in Iowa, based on graduation rates and how the schools performed on state assessments.

Gold and silver awards are based on the percent of students participating in and achieving passing scores on the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests, according to the report.

Silver was the highest award given to any school in Iowa, which received 14, representing 4.2 percent of its public schools. That put the state 46th in the nation, according to U.S. News.