City Honors School Rises in National Rankings

Newsweek Magazine has released its annual rankings of high schools in the United States.  City Honors School, from the Buffalo Public Schools, has been ranked #10 in the nation this year, up from #13 last year.  Newsweek’s ranking system uses performance and participation on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate assessments to determine how American schools are challenging their students at the collegiate level and the performance of students.  City Honors was also once again the top rated high school in New York State with Jericho High School ranked at #32.  This year, City Honors achieved its highest index rating ever under the Newsweek system with a score of 8.402. It also received an ‘Equity and Excellence’ rating of 95%, the percentage of 2009 graduates that earned the traditional college credit threshold on at least one AP or IB examination.  Despite an ever growing pool of schools from around the country included in the Newsweek system, City Honors has impressively retained its status at the top of this system while continuing to increase its index performance.  Approximately 30% of City Honors students qualify for free and reduced lunch, the federal threshold for determining household poverty.  This was the second highest poverty rate of schools of the top ten ranked schools.

City Honors principal, Dr.William Kresse, commented, “We are appreciative of this acknowledgement once again.  It provides recognition to the unique collegiate level curriculum we have created for our students as well as the dedicated faculty and supportive families at the school.  We have some talented students who come to us from all walks of life from throughout the city, but we believe that our “framework of challenge’ encourages them to arrive at their full potential.  Additionally, we are excited about a number of initiatives that we have been implementing over the past five years that may not receive as much attention.”  Kresse pointed to efforts such as:

• expanding its International Baccalaureate program into the arts and environmental sciences (in 2004 the school offered 16 AP & IB courses, it now offers 23)
• growth of a substantial autistic education program at the school known as STARS (STudents with Autism Rising to Success)
• the addition of a Mandarin Chinese Language track
• the successful expansion of its Science Research Program at Roswell Park and Hauptman-Woodward Institutes
• the completion of the 40 million dollar reconstruction of the City Honors building which will open its doors on September 8 of this year

Learn more about Newsweek Rankings and City Honors at: http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/americas-best-high-schools.html