We have great news to pass along! Our own Westlake Academy scored big in the latest rankings in another major publication. According to the Jay Mathews Challenge Index used by the Washington Post, WA checked in as the 26th best high school in the entire country! That’s 26th out of 2,543 entries.
The Challenge Index is the oldest high school ranking system in the country. It is the only list that does not rely on test scores, which they believe are more a measure of student family income than school quality. It is also the only list that compares private and public schools.
It ranks high schools by a simple ratio: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Cambridge tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. Schools ranked number 220 or above are in the top one percent of America’s 22,000 high schools, number 440 or above are in the top two percent, and so on.
This news alone would be something to cheer about, but combine this with the list from the US News & World Report last week where Westlake Academy ranked as the 100th best high school and the 21st best charter school in the country, and we really have something to be proud of.
As we vigorously continue to plan for this year’s graduation ceremony, it’s refreshing to be able to take a moment to reflect on just how special our school, its students, and its staff is. The world has really taken notice of all of their accomplishments and we couldn’t be happier to share the news with all of you.