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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Three high schools make list of top high schools in nation
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Loudoun News
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Date: July 07, 2011 12:57PM
Three high schools make list of top high schools in nation
Friday, Jul. 1 by Andrew Sharbel
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/three_high_schools_make_list_of_top_high_schools_in_nation111/
Every year as the academic year comes to a close, the news magazine Newsweek, distributes its list of the top 500 high schools in America.
Throughout the last six years, Loudoun County Public Schools has been a constant presence on the list with its 10 high schools continuously making the list.
In 2011, three LCPS schools were distinguished as top 200 schools in the country.
Stone Bridge High School continued its run on the list, coming in at 127. Stone Bridge has been voted into the top 500 in each of the last six years.
Both Freedom High School and Briar Woods High School made the list for the second consecutive year and ranked at 183 and 198, respectively.
School Board Vice Chairman and Blue Ridge District representative Priscilla Godfrey acknowledged the three schools’ achievement.
“We have three of our 10 high schools that have seniors in the top 200; [Stone Bridge] at 127, Freedom at 183 and Briar Woods at 198,” Godfrey said. “This honor has been accomplished through the efforts of our teachers, administrators, students and parents. We are very fortunate to live in a county where the taxpayers and the families value public education.
“Although we disagree sometimes on how to get there, we all have the same goal - the success of our children,” Godfrey said.
According to the magazine’s website, Newsweek revamped its rankings this year and now bases its criteria on six different statistics, including graduation rates; percent of 2010 graduates who immediately enrolled in college; Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests per graduate; average SAT or ACT scores; average AP, IB and AICE test scores; and AP, IB and AICE courses offered per graduate.
According to LCPS records, 97 percent of Stone Bridge’s class of 2011 will be moving on to two- or four-year colleges. Of the 459 students in the senior class, 99 of them achieved a GPA of 4.0 or higher. As a class, they earned more than $4.2 million in scholarships.
Stone Bridge Principal James Person was very happy with the distinction.
“There are so many different types of measures for a school now and being recognized in this list shows a lot of hard work by a lot of people,” Person said. “We are very appreciative of the honor and as a principal, you are obviously very proud of this award.
“However, I may be a little biased, but I think all the high schools in Loudoun County are excellent schools,” Person said.
Freedom High School’s class of 2011 was 401 students strong and 308 of them received advanced studies diplomas. As a class, the students earned more than $2.6 million in scholarships and 95 percent of them are going on to post-secondary education. Of those 401 seniors, 57 graduated with GPAs at or above a 4.0.
Freedom Principal Christine Forester is extremely proud of her school and its most recent accomplishment.
“It is very difficult for me to express how proud I am to be the principal of a school where the needs of our students always come first. I have outstanding faculty, staff and administrators who are passionate about our students and go above and beyond to find ways to help our students succeed,” Forester said. “Our faculty and staff are dedicated to setting high expectations for our students and providing them the support they need to be successful.
“Once the students begin their course of study, our faculty and staff provide rigorous classes which are enriched with opportunities for our students to experience inquiry and project-based instruction,” Forester said.
At Briar Woods, 270 of 332 graduates left with advanced studies diplomas, 96 graduated with GPAs higher than 4.0, 96 percent will be attending college and they earned more than $2.2 million in scholarships.
Forester is looking to continue the success next year.
“I believe our success will continue as long as we have the support of our parents and our community to challenge our students to be the best. We need to make sure our students realize the importance of being on time, being prepared and being ready to face all of the challenges they will encounter,” Forester said. “As a school we will continue to examine data and reflect on our practices and make changes where change is needed.”
Friday, Jul. 1 by Andrew Sharbel
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/three_high_schools_make_list_of_top_high_schools_in_nation111/
Every year as the academic year comes to a close, the news magazine Newsweek, distributes its list of the top 500 high schools in America.
Throughout the last six years, Loudoun County Public Schools has been a constant presence on the list with its 10 high schools continuously making the list.
In 2011, three LCPS schools were distinguished as top 200 schools in the country.
Stone Bridge High School continued its run on the list, coming in at 127. Stone Bridge has been voted into the top 500 in each of the last six years.
Both Freedom High School and Briar Woods High School made the list for the second consecutive year and ranked at 183 and 198, respectively.
School Board Vice Chairman and Blue Ridge District representative Priscilla Godfrey acknowledged the three schools’ achievement.
“We have three of our 10 high schools that have seniors in the top 200; [Stone Bridge] at 127, Freedom at 183 and Briar Woods at 198,” Godfrey said. “This honor has been accomplished through the efforts of our teachers, administrators, students and parents. We are very fortunate to live in a county where the taxpayers and the families value public education.
“Although we disagree sometimes on how to get there, we all have the same goal - the success of our children,” Godfrey said.
According to the magazine’s website, Newsweek revamped its rankings this year and now bases its criteria on six different statistics, including graduation rates; percent of 2010 graduates who immediately enrolled in college; Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests per graduate; average SAT or ACT scores; average AP, IB and AICE test scores; and AP, IB and AICE courses offered per graduate.
According to LCPS records, 97 percent of Stone Bridge’s class of 2011 will be moving on to two- or four-year colleges. Of the 459 students in the senior class, 99 of them achieved a GPA of 4.0 or higher. As a class, they earned more than $4.2 million in scholarships.
Stone Bridge Principal James Person was very happy with the distinction.
“There are so many different types of measures for a school now and being recognized in this list shows a lot of hard work by a lot of people,” Person said. “We are very appreciative of the honor and as a principal, you are obviously very proud of this award.
“However, I may be a little biased, but I think all the high schools in Loudoun County are excellent schools,” Person said.
Freedom High School’s class of 2011 was 401 students strong and 308 of them received advanced studies diplomas. As a class, the students earned more than $2.6 million in scholarships and 95 percent of them are going on to post-secondary education. Of those 401 seniors, 57 graduated with GPAs at or above a 4.0.
Freedom Principal Christine Forester is extremely proud of her school and its most recent accomplishment.
“It is very difficult for me to express how proud I am to be the principal of a school where the needs of our students always come first. I have outstanding faculty, staff and administrators who are passionate about our students and go above and beyond to find ways to help our students succeed,” Forester said. “Our faculty and staff are dedicated to setting high expectations for our students and providing them the support they need to be successful.
“Once the students begin their course of study, our faculty and staff provide rigorous classes which are enriched with opportunities for our students to experience inquiry and project-based instruction,” Forester said.
At Briar Woods, 270 of 332 graduates left with advanced studies diplomas, 96 graduated with GPAs higher than 4.0, 96 percent will be attending college and they earned more than $2.2 million in scholarships.
Forester is looking to continue the success next year.
“I believe our success will continue as long as we have the support of our parents and our community to challenge our students to be the best. We need to make sure our students realize the importance of being on time, being prepared and being ready to face all of the challenges they will encounter,” Forester said. “As a school we will continue to examine data and reflect on our practices and make changes where change is needed.”