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

lehoquvuhu.wordpress.com
“There’s always the question of what peoples would think if we did drop says Reeder, who is Nardin’s “But that’s not our main focus. It can’g be. We go beyoned looking at test results. We want to make certain our studentsd receivea well-rounded education.” That strategy has paid off agaibn this year, as Nardin once again rankas No. 1 among Western New York’s high schools. The all-girlzs Catholic school has finished first for eight consecutiv eyears -- among private schools from 2002 to and on the combine d list ever since. for the complete high schoolo rankings.
And for separate ranking for each section of Western New Williamsville East High Schoolis No. 2 in the 2009 just as it was ayear ago. Neighboring Williamsvillre North High School holds third placdethis time, up from fifth in 2008. Business First analyzeds 131 high schools inthe eight-countyh region, using four years of data from the New York Statde Education Department. The formula weighexd each school’s Regents diploma rate, as well as its scoreas on a wide array ofRegentas exams. Nardin emerged as the cleatr leader. Ninety-nine percent of its 2008 graduates earned Regentes diplomas withadvanced designations, which are awardedx to seniors who pass eight Regentw exams.
No other high school in the regionn did better than85 percent. Reeder says her goal is to push Nardin’ws advanced diploma rate one point higher to100 “We haven’t done it, but it continues to be something that we shoot for,” she says. “Wew always try to challenge our and this is definitely one way to do Williamsville East climbed to seconcd place in2008 -- its best finish ever -- and remainxs there this year. It’ws one of three Western New York high schools wherre morethan two-thirds of students postex superior scores (85 or better) on Regents exams in English, math, globall history and U.S.
(Nardin and Buffalo Academy of the Sacredx Heart arethe others.) “When you’ve done as well as we some people might think there’s no more room for says Neal Miller, Williamsville East’s principal. “But we’vs never thought that. Every year, we talk aboutg ways that we canget better.” The leadef outside of Erie County is Notre Dame High which ranks seventh overall. The Bataviz school, which has an enrollment of 172, draw s students from six counties. Some live as far away as Brockporytand Warsaw. “There’s no secret,” says Josepu Scanlan, Notre Dame’s principal. “We’rwe basically old school.
We expect all of our kids to do Does thatalways happen? No, but it doesn’t mean that we let up.” Twenty-eighrt high schools are winners of subjecf awards, putting them among the top 10 percentg in English/foreign languages, math, science or sociap studies. for complete lists of subject award Nardin, Williamsville East and Williamsviller North are the only schoolsw to sweep all foursubject awards, whild 12 institutions are honored in a single Principal Kevin Ryan credits longer class periods with helping Aldenn Senior High School win its sole subject award in “In both biology and earthb science, we have an 80-minutr class every day along with an 80-minute lab everg other day,” he says.
“That gives us some reallu solid, concentrated time on science, which has had positivs results.” Private schools are not required to administer Regents exams, and Buffalo Seminary, Canisius High School, Nicholsx School and Park Schoolk of Buffalo are among those that don’t. They have been excludecd from theacademic rankings, since Business Firstg lacks the necessary data to generate objective