By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
A recent U.S. News and World Report study recognized Glencoe High School as one of the best high schools in the nation.
The school was awarded the National Bronze Award for performing better than is statistically expected for students in Alabama.
Glencoe High’s student population is 39 percent economically disadvantaged. The school’s disadvantaged students outperformed other disadvantaged students in the state.
108 Alabama schools made the national list. Glencoe High is the only Etowah County school that made the list. 6,500 of the 29,000 schools reviewed were awarded in the nation.
The award was based on ACT test scores for math and reading proficiency, according to Glencoe High Principal Charlton Giles.
According to the study, 98 percent are proficient in math, while 93 percent of Glencoe High’s students are proficient in reading.
Glencoe High School’s student body is 50 percent male and 50 percent female. The minority enrollment is 1 percent.
Glencoe High School is a small school with only 347 students in grades 8 through 12. With 25 teachers, the student to teacher ratio is 14 to 1. Giles has been principal of the school for seven years.
Giles attributed the success of the students to hard-working teachers.
“We have a faculty that continues to raise the bar,” said Giles. “Students rise to the expectations set for them.”
He said that adding rigor to the curriculum helped the students perform better.
Giles also recognizes the mayor and city council for providing support to the school, and the city’s Board of Education’s “supportive hand” and the city’s “exceptional resources” as contributing to the school’s success.
“It’s a team effort,” said Giles.
This is not the first time local schools have been recognized nationally.
Last year a ranking of nationwide schools, placed a local school in the top 100 elementary schools in Alabama. John S. Jones Elementary was rated 79th in the state.
The rankings were performed by a research website called Niche.com. Niche uses community reviews and opinions with hard data, such as standardized test scores. The website has scores for each factor that contributes to the school’s success. These scores, weighted to importance, are used to calculate a grade for each school. Niche rates more than 120,000 schools nationwide.
“There’s a part of me that was shocked when I found out [about Niche’s ranking], but another part of me wasn’t,” said John S. Jones Principal Tanya Clark. “We have a lot of great teachers and great students.”
According to Clark, the community and parent participation has helped the school succeed.
Some of the data for the Niche rating was gathered through student and parent surveys, which John S. Jones Elementary students and parents filled out as part of the school’s re-accreditation process.