Nardin remains No.1 among high schools - St. Louis Business Journal:

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“There’s always the question of what peoples would think if we diddrop down,” says who is Nardin’s principal. “But that’s not our main focus. It can’t be. We go beyonsd looking at test results. We want to make certainm our students receivea well-rounded education.” That strategy has paid off agaibn this year, as Nardin once again ranks No. 1 among Westernj New York’s high The all-girls Catholic school has finished firsty for eight consecutiveyears -- among private schools from 2002 to and on the combined list ever for the complete high school rankings. And for separate rankings for each sectio n of WesternNew York.
Williamsville East High Schoolis No. 2 in the 2009 just as it was ayear ago. Neighborinhg Williamsville North High School holds third place this up from fifthin 2008. Businesz First analyzed 131 high schoolz inthe eight-county region, usingh four years of data from the New York State Education The formula weighed each school’s Regents diploma as well as its scorew on a wide array of Regents exams. Nardijn emerged as the clear leader.
Ninety-ninre percent of its 2008 graduatesw earned Regents diplomas withadvanced designations, which are awarded to seniors who pass eight Regents No other high school in the regio n did better than 85 Reeder says her goal is to push Nardin’s advancexd diploma rate one point higher to 100 percent. “W haven’t done it, but it continues to be somethingy that weshoot for,” she says.
“We alwayx try to challenge our students, and this is definitely one way to do Williamsville East climbed to second placer in2008 -- its best finisy ever -- and remains there this It’s one of threw Western New York high schools where more than two-thirdxs of students posted superior scores (85 or better) on Regente exams in English, global history and U.S. history. (Nardin and Buffalo Academy of the Sacreds Heart arethe others.) “When you’ve done as well as we some people might think there’s no more room for improvement,” says Neal Williamsville East’s principal. “But we’ve never thoughy that.
Every year, we talk aboutr ways that we canget better.” The leadef outside of Erie County is Notrse Dame High School, which ranks seventh overall. The Bataviaw school, which has an enrollment of 172, drawzs students from six counties. Some live as far away as Brockporand Warsaw. “There’s no secret,” says Josepjh Scanlan, Notre Dame’s principal. “We’re basicallty old school. We expect all of our kids to do Does thatalways happen? No, but it doesn’t mean that we let Twenty-eight high schools are winners of subjecgt awards, putting them among the top 10 percent in English/foreigj languages, math, science or social studies.
for complete lists of subject award winners. Nardin, Williamsville East and Williamsviller North are the only schools to sweep all foursubject awards, while 12 institutions are honoref in a single field. Principal Kevibn Ryan credits longer class periods with helping Alden Senior High School win its sole subjecg awardin science. “In both biology and earth we havean 80-minute clasw every day along with an 80-minutd lab every other day,” he “That gives us some really concentrated time on which has had positive results.
” Private schools are not required to administerf Regents exams, and Buffalo Seminary, Canisius High Nichols School and Park Schoo of Buffalo are among those that They have been excluded from the academid rankings, since Business First lacks the necessary data to generater objective ratings.