MCPS Rises to the "High School Challenge"

April 15, 2013

Four MCPS high schools among top 100 in the nation

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) placed four schools among the nation’s top 100 in The Washington Post High School Challenge. All 25 MCPS high schools appear in the ranking, which includes only the top 9 percent of the nation’s high schools.

The High School Challenge, released Monday (April 15), ranks schools based on the access they provide students to rigorous classes, including Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses.

“Our district’s strong performance on the High School Challenge indicates that we are successfully breaking down barriers and providing all students with access to meaningful, college-level classes,” said Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr. “Congratulations to our students, staff, and school communities on these outstanding results.”

“We must continue to provide this access and make sure our students are ready for success in rigorous classes that prepare them for college and the workplace,” he said.

(See how MCPS high schools performed on the High School Challenge)

The four high schools in the top 100 of the High School Challenge list were Poolesville (47), Richard Montgomery (87), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (92), and Winston Churchill (100). Overall, 23 of the district’s 25 high schools were in the top half of the list, which includes 1,919 high schools.

On the Washington, D.C., regional list, MCPS placed seven schools in the top 25, including the four mentioned above, plus Walt Whitman, Thomas S. Wootton, Quince Orchard, and Walter Johnson high schools. MCPS had eight of the top 10 schools in the state of Maryland.

The High School Challenge is based on the Challenge Index, a measure devised more than 15 years ago by Washington Post reporter Jay Mathews, to rank high schools on their ability to effectively prepare students for college.

MCPS is a national leader in AP participation and performance. In 2012, MCPS students took 32,974 AP exams, the most in the district’s history. Of the exams taken, 75 percent received a college-ready score of 3 or higher, an increase of more than 3 percentage points from 2011 and the highest percentage since 2006. The percentage of AP exams scoring a 3 or higher in MCPS is significantly higher than the percentage in the state of Maryland (61.4 percent) and the nation (57.3 percent).

MCPS High School Challenge Results

Washington Post High School Challenge

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