GO Tigers! And Eagles and Bobcats and Purples...

and all the other Kentucky high schools named in US News and World Report’s 2007 list of Best High Schools in the US.

“We've attempted to answer that pivotal question in the following pages, our first ever ranking of America's Best High Schools. Using a formula produced in collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 data research and analysis business run by Standard & Poor's, we put high schools in 40 states through a three-step analysis.
First, we measured how each school's students performed on state tests, adjusting for student circumstances. We next evaluated how well each school's disadvantaged students did. Finally, we looked at whether the school was successful in providing college-level coursework.” -Brian Kelly, US News and World Report

Principal Paul Middleton of Barbourville High School summed up for every administrator we spoke to when asked about the recognition,  "Thank the teachers and the staff that work hard with our kids."

L. Kay Dixon,  of Barbourville High told us that their successful transition rate for 2006 was 98% and our high school index on the KCCT for 2006 was 88.6.

"As the Instructional Supervisor, I honestly feel that being a small independent district is an advantage for our students. I have found that the atmosphere and focus on the individual student gives us a  sense of "family," she said.

I graduated from a small independent district high school before computers in the classroom (or hardly anywhere else), the INTERNET, virtual learning, video conferencing, KERA, KATs or NCLB (No Child Left Behind). We believed the Beach Boys when they sang “be true to your school” and we were. We had few extracurricular opportunities, a science lab that would have given Mr. Wizard heartburn, an old building, with stairs worn and grooved by thousands of feet.

On the positive side, we had small classes, lots of personal attention, teachers who knew our parents and who weren't afraid to rat us out when we slacked up, a great choir, kind and watchful administrators. Our pride bordered on fierce. We fought off attempts to consolidate with cheers and rallies. In four years, we received an education that got many of us through college, graduate school and into the job market. 

Now imagine the thrill of learning that your alma mater is recognized in a national study as one of the best in the nation.  One hundred schools across the country were designated as “Gold” schools – the best of the best. No school in Kentucky got a gold medal.

Of the 405 schools in the next category, Silver, Kentucky had seven.  Of the 1081 Bronze medal schools, Kentucky had sixteen named. http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/257609.html

Here are the recognized Kentucky schools in alphabetical order.

Barbourville City School, Barbourville Independent, Knox County– Bronze http://www.barbourvilleind.com

Beechwood High School – Beechwood Independent, Kenton County – Silver

Bowling Green High School – Bowling Green Independent, Warren County – Silver
http://www.b-g.k12.ky.us/

Brown High School –Jefferson County Schools-Bronze

Butler Traditional High School –Jefferson County Schools-Bronze

Dupont Manual High School – Jefferson County Schools – Silver

Eminence High School – Eminence Independent Schools, Henry County-Bronze

Graves County High School-Graves County School District, Graves County –Bronze
http://www.graves.k12.ky.us/schools/gchs

Harlan High School – Harlan Independent, Harlan County – Bronze

Highlands High School –Ft. Thomas Independent- Silver

Jackson City School – Jackson Independent, Breathitt County – Bronze

Johnson Central High School – Johnson County –Bronze

Lee County High School – Lee County – Bronze

Louisville Male Traditional High School – Jefferson County – Silver

Monticello High School – Monticello Independent, Wayne County –Bronze

Murray High School – Murray Independent, Calloway County – Bronze http://www.murray.k12.ky.us/MHS/home.asp

North Oldham High School- Oldham County Schools – Silver

Owensboro High School – Owensboro Independent, Daviess County - Bronze
http://www.owensboro.kyschools.us/ohs/home.php

Paris High School – Paris Independent, Bourbon County – Bronze

Phelps High School, Pike County Schools – Bronze

Pikeville High School, Pikeville Independent, Pike County – Bronze

Walton-Verona High School, Walton-Verona Independent, Boone County – Bronze

Williamsburg High School, Williamsburg Independent, Whitley County - Bronze

 Out of 277 Kentucky high schools, of the twenty three high schools chosen, fourteen are independent districts. Four schools are in Jefferson County,  Four are in West Kentucky.

It is worth looking at the schools across the nation that were awarded gold medals – prep schools and schools for the gifted, academies,Boston and New York schools with long histories of excellence.  The number one school was Thomas Jefferson High School in suburban Washington, DC. The number ten school was Hidalgo High in Texas on the Mexican border.

We Americans love to rank things. We crave the order of the list. We want to know who’s good and who’s bad. We rank movies,  athletes, teams, hospitals, books, celebrities, diseases, cars, jobs, cities, states, airlines, the most wanted. Pick a subject and someone will make a top ten list for it.

Lists can be fun. They can be helpful. They can be educational. They can make us think.  They can also make us depressed, angry and complacent.  I can only hope this list is of the "makes us think" variety.

As glad as I am that my hometown school made the list, I recognize that every high school has a class, a teacher, a team, a unique ingredient that ranks it No. 1 with students, faculty and parents.  There are schools not ranked that are working hard to get students ready for life after high school. There are schools not ranked that will graduate outstanding young people. 

Don't despair. We love to rank and next year is another year.

Like the Beach Boys said –Just be true to your school.