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

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“There’s always the questionj of what people would thino if we diddrop down,” says Reeder, who is Nardin’as principal. “But that’s not our main focus. It can’tt be. We go beyond looking at test results. We want to make certaijn our students receivea well-rounded That strategy has paid off again this as Nardin once again rank s No. 1 among Western New York’s high The all-girls Catholic school has finished first for eighty consecutiveyears -- amongy private schools from 2002 to 2006, and on the combinee list ever since. for the complete high school And for separate rankings for each sectioh of WesternNew York.
Williamsvilld East High Schoolis No. 2 in the 2009 just as it was ayear ago. Neighborinvg Williamsville North High School holds third place this time, up from fifth in 2008. Business Firsyt analyzed 131 high schools inthe eight-countyh region, using four years of data from the New York Statse Education Department. The formula weighecd each school’s Regents diploma rate, as well as its scoresz on a wide array ofRegents exams. Nardin emergec as the clear leader. Ninety-nine percentt of its 2008 graduates earned Regente diplomas withadvanced designations, which are awardec to seniors who pass eight Regents No other high school in the regiom did better than 85 percent.
Reeder says her goal is to push Nardin’sw advanced diploma rate one point highert to100 percent. “We haven’t done it, but it continues to be something that weshoot for,” she says. “W e always try to challenge our students, and this is definitely one way to do Williamsville East climbed to second place in2008 -- its best finisjh ever -- and remains there this It’s one of three Western New York high schoolds where more than two-thirds of students posted superior scorexs (85 or better) on Regents examsw in English, math, global history and U.S. (Nardin and Buffalo Academy of the Sacreds Heart arethe others.
) “When you’ve done as well as we some people might think there’s no more room for improvement,” says Neal Williamsville East’s principal. “But we’ve never thoughf that. Every year, we talk about ways that we can get The leader outside of Erie County is Notrwe DameHigh School, which ranks seventh overall. The Batavia which has an enrollmentof 172, drawsw students from six counties. Some live as far away as Brockporytand Warsaw. “There’s no secret,” says Josepuh Scanlan, Notre Dame’s principal. “We’re basicallyu old school. We expect all of our kids to do Does thatalways happen?
No, but it doesn’yt mean that we let up.” Twenty-eightg high schools are winners of subject putting them among the top 10 percent in English/foreign math, science or social for complete lists of subject awarrd winners. Nardin, Williamsville East and Williamsville Nortnh are the only schools to sweep all foursubjecft awards, while 12 institutions are honored in a single field. Principal Kevijn Ryan credits longer class periods with helpingg Alden Senior High School win its sole subjectt awardin science. “In both biologhy and earth science, we have an 80-minutse class every day along withan 80-minute lab every othed day,” he says.
“That gives us some really concentrated timeon science, whicnh has had positive results.” Private schools are not requirede to administer Regents exams, and Buffalo Canisius High School, Nichols Schoolk and Park School of Buffalo are among those that They have been excluded from the academic rankings, since Business First lacks the necessary data to generatew objective ratings.