Summit High Receives Silver U.S. News and World Report Ranking

U.S. News and World Report has ranked Summit High School a silver high school in its annual Best High School's report.

The school received a college readiness rating of 53.0 out of 100. There was a 10-way tie for first in the county. High Technology High School in Lincroft was the top school in New Jersey with a rating of 98.9.

In order to come up with its rankings, U.S. News and World Report uses a three step methodology to analyze schools with sufficient date from the 2007-2008 school year. The first step determined "whether each school's students were performing better than statistically expected for the average student in the state," according the U.S. News and World Report Web site.

For schools that made it past the first step, the second step determined "whether the school's least-advantaged students (black, Hispanic, and low income) were performing better than average for similar students in the state."

The final step judged schools nationally based on their college-readiness performance, which studied Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test data.

"It's good to see us bench-marked against other districts," Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker said. "To the extent that we can look at these kinds of rankings and improve out services to our students and families, we do that."

Out of the 299 eligible schools in New Jersey, only 17 received a silver rating like Summit.

Parker highlighted some of the many initiatives going on at the high school that contribute to the high rankings and success of Summit's students, including recent news of curriculum changes in science, math and English.

Two other programs Parker is working on are the Media Literacy program and an initiative to teach students how to conduct scientific research. Parker visited the Bronx School of Science in New York to look at their program as a model.

With companies such as Celegene and Merck right in Summit, Parker says he sees an opportunity to offer high schoolers internships with major pharmaceutical companies within walking distance of the Summit High campus.

The report also rated Summit High's disadvantaged students performance gap as 21.4. For AP involvement, the report showed that the high school has a 57.6 percent participation rate, a number Parker said he thinks is very high for a high school.

The report also found students have a 89.3 percent passing rate for the course and a 87.4 percent exam passing rate.