MCPS Has Seven Schools in Newsweek's Top 100 List

June 13, 2010

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has seven schools on Newsweek’s list of the top 100 public high schools in the nation—the most by one district.

The 2010 America's Best High Schools list ranks schools based on their efforts to provide all students access to rigorous classes, such as Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. By having seven schools in the top 100, MCPS breaks its own record of six, set in 2008. Last year, MCPS had four schools in the top 100.

The seven high schools are Richard Montgomery (33), Poolesville (59), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (63), Winston Churchill (75), Thomas Wootton (83), Walt Whitman (85), and Walter Johnson (95). The remaining MCPS high schools all finished in the top 3 percent of all schools in the nation.

MCPS is the only Maryland district with schools in the top 100.

“The Newsweek report is another confirmation that the reform efforts we have put in place the past 11 years are having a very positive impact,” said Patricia O’Neill, President of the Montgomery County Board of Education. “We have made a commitment to giving all students access to college-level work, so they are better prepared for the rigors of post-secondary classes."

Several MCPS high schools made significant gains on the list from last year, most notably Poolesville High School, which jumped from 305th to 59th this year. The list is based upon the “Challenge Index,” developed by the Washington Post, which put out a ranking of Washington-area schools earlier this year. MCPS had five schools in the top 10 on that list.

Receiving a college ready score on an AP or IB exam has been identified as one of MCPS’ “7 Keys to College Readiness,” a series of K-12 benchmarks that lays out a pathway to college preparedness.

Students who succeed in rigorous classes, like AP, are more than three times as likely to get a bachelor’s degree than those who do not, according to college completion data. Among MCPS students in the classes of 2001-2004, only 25 percent of those who did not take an AP exam earned a bachelor’s degree. But among those students who took at least one AP exam, 60 percent earned a degree, and among those who scored 3 or higher on at least one exam, 76 percent earned a bachelor’s degree.

“By providing broader access to rigorous classes, we are giving our students a distinct advantage in college,” Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said. “Simply taking an AP class more than doubles a student’s chances of earning a bachelor’s degree, which leads to higher lifetime earnings and greater success in the workplace.”

The Newsweek list is the latest in a string of accolades about the performance of MCPS students:

MCPS has the highest graduation rate among the nation’s large school districts, according to a report released by Education Week on Thursday. The MCPS graduation rate of 83.1 percent is significantly higher than the state and national rates.
The class of 2010 has earned $232 million in college scholarships so far this year, an all-time record for the district and nearly $50 million more than last year.
MCPS has been named one of five finalists for the $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes large school districts that raised student achievement and narrowed the achievement gap.

America's Best High Schools Rankings for All MCPS Schools

RANK	SCHOOL	CITY	STATE
33	Richard Montgomery	Rockville	MD
59	Poolesville	Poolesville	MD
63	Bethesda-Chevy Chase	Bethesda	MD
75	Winston Churchill	Potomac	MD
83	Wootton	Rockville	MD
85	Walt Whitman	Bethesda	MD
95	Walter Johnson	Bethesda	MD
139	Montgomery Blair	Silver Spring	MD
218	Quince Orchard	Gaithersburg	MD
263	Paint Branch	Burtonsville	MD
299	Rockville	Rockville	MD
361	Albert Einstein	Kensington	MD
364	Sherwood	Sandy Spring	MD
433	Blake	Silver Spring	MD
439	Northwest	Germantown	MD
481	Magruder	Rockville	MD
521	Gaithersburg	Gaithersburg	MD
538	John F. Kennedy	Silver Spring	MD
541	Wheaton	Silver Spring	MD
546	Springbrook	Silver Spring	MD
553	Damascus	Damascus	MD
656	Clarksburg	Clarksburg	MD
723	Seneca Valley	Germantown	MD
741	Watkins Mill	Gaithersburg	MD
752	Northwood	Silver Spring	MD

Source: Newsweek's America's Best High Schools 2010

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