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Newsweek’s High School Ranking Recognizes HKHS

With the new school year just around the corner, Newsweek recently released its list of America’s Top High Schools for 2016. With only 500 schools across the country selected, one local high school was pleased to announce it made the list.

For the third year in a row, Haddam Killingworth High School (HKHS) made the list, ranking 267th nationally and sixth out of the 16 Connecticut High schools ranked.

Schools are identified according to college-readiness factors including standardized test score and college enrollment rates. HKHS Principal Donna Hayward said in a statement she was pleased the school made the list.

“Each year, I start the school year with an all-school assembly in which we celebrate our school’s accomplishments and aim to inspire our students to make the most of their HKHS experience,” she said. “A strong school builds strong students who then perform at the highest levels. I cannot wait to share this news with our students. This is a fantastic high school that our communities can be very proud of. As both a parent and a principal, I know we offer a high-quality education to our kids. We foster in our young people the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind to graduate from HKHS and go on to achieve whatever they aspire to do and be.”

What About Madison?

Of the 16 Connecticut high schools on the list, Madison’s Daniel Hand High School (DHHS) did not make the list, despite appearing on other national-ranking lists, including U.S News and World Report, earlier this year.

To understand the difference in ranking between lists, Madison Superintendent of Public Schools Thomas Scarice said it’s important to understand all of the factors considered when determining rank.

“DHHS regularly makes a variety of the national and state rankings/lists, yet, the devil is in the details,” he said.

According to Newsweek’s ranking methodology, factors specifically considered include changes in 9th and 12th grade student enrollment rates (known as holding power), ratio of counselor to student enrollment, weighted SAT/ACT scores, weighted Advanced Placement (AP)/International Baccalaureate (IB) scores, graduation rate, and college enrollment rate.

“Most interesting is that the data for the 2016 Newsweek rankings is from the 2013-2014 school year,” he said. “Over two years ago.”

While Scarice said rankings matter in the sense that people do read them, he said it is not necessarily the best reflection of overall school performance.

“When DHHS ranks near or at the top of the state on these lists, or on SAT performance like we just did on the recent 2016 administration of the SAT, I believe it is important to take these pieces of information and place them in proper perspective,” he said. “Our work with our students is much broader and more important than any oversimplification.”