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The original press release dated November 16, 2011 inadvertently reported U.S. News & World Report ranking three BPS schools (West Shore Jr./Sr. High, Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High and Edgewood Jr./Sr. High) nationally in math and science. However, West Shore was the only district school to receive this distinction. Cocoa Beach and Edgewood received Silver Medal School rankings and West Shore received a Gold Medal School ranking from U.S. News and World Report. The original press release immediately follows the update. Updated: December 6, 2011 U.S. News & World Report Ranked Three BPS High Schools VIERA, FL - U.S. News & World Report has ranked West Shore Jr./Sr. HS in Melbourne, as one of the best 208 high schools in the country for math and science. Additionally the school was designated as a Gold Medal School. U.S. News and World Report ranked Edgewood Jr./Sr. HS in Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. HS in Cocoa Beach as Silver Medal Schools. The 2010 U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools methodology, developed by School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor's, is based on the key principles that a great high school must serve all its students well, not just those who are college bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators. Analysts from School Evaluation Services evaluated 21,786 public high schools in 48 states plus the District of Columbia. This is the total number of public high schools that had 12th-grade enrollment and sufficient data, primarily from the 2007-2008 school year to analyze. A three-step process determined the best high schools. The first two steps ensured that the schools serve all their students well, using state proficiency standards as the benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work. The top 100 high schools nationwide with the highest college readiness index scores were ranked numerically (ties were broken using first the participant passing rate and then the average number of AP and/or IB exams passed per test taker) and awarded gold medals. The next 461 top-performing high schools nationwide—based on their college readiness index scores—earned silver medals. An additional 1,189 high schools in 48 states plus the District of Columbia that passed the first two steps were awarded bronze medals. Thirty-seven more high schools in 12 states received an honorable mention medal if they would have scored high enough on the college readiness index to earn a gold medal but didn't fully meet Step 1 and Step 2. Dr. Kenneth Winn, Edgewood Principal said, “The Edgewood staff and community are exceptionally proud of the academic progress the students have shown these past few years. The teachers have worked extra hard to align the school’s curriculum with high standards and expectations. The support staff does everything possible to assist the teachers, and the Edgewood community solidifies the entire effort of the Edgewood family.” Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School Principal, Timothy Cool gives credit to the dedicated staff of highly trained teachers focusing on the College Board standards. “Our teachers work diligently to ensure each and every standard is covered and that the connection is made to math and science.” The first-ever Best High Schools for Math and Science ranking methodology was developed by U.S. News and is based on the key principle that students at the Best High Schools for Math and Science must take and pass a robust curriculum of college-level Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses. U.S. News & World Report looked at the nearly 600 schools that qualified for the Gold, Silver, and Honorable Mention lists of the U.S. News Best High Schools and then evaluated students' participation rates and performances on AP® exams in math and science. From that point, the 208 high schools that performed the best in those subjects were chosen. West Shore Principal Rick Fleming identified a very strong systemic vertical alignment of curriculum based primarily on College Board standards as the driving force behind the success. “There is little or no overlap or duplication of material and transitions throughout the sequence of grade level material are seamless”, Fleming said. “It goes without saying that we have a fantastic corps of top notch teachers in these disciplines that make ‘real life’ connections to math and science each and every day.” -BPS- Original Release: November 16, 2011 Three BPS High Schools Ranked Nationally in VIERA, FL - U.S. News & World Report has ranked West Shore Jr./Sr. HS in Melbourne, Edgewood Jr./Sr. HS in Merritt Island, and Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. HS in Cocoa Beach as three of the best 208 high schools in the country for math and science. The first-ever Best High Schools for Math and Science ranking methodology was developed by U.S. News and is based on the key principle that students at the Best High Schools for Math and Science must take and pass a robust curriculum of college-level Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses. U.S. News & World Report looked at the nearly 600 schools that qualified for the Gold, Silver, and Honorable Mention lists of the U.S. News Best High Schools and then evaluated students' participation rates and performances on AP® exams in math and science. From that point, the 208 high schools that performed the best in those subjects were chosen. West Shore Principal Rick Fleming identified a very strong systemic vertical alignment of curriculum based primarily on College Board standards as the driving force behind the success. “There is little or no overlap or duplication of material and transitions throughout the sequence of grade level material are seamless”, Fleming said. “It goes without saying that we have a fantastic corps of top notch teachers in these disciplines that make ‘real life’ connections to math and science each and every day.” Dr. Kenneth Winn, Edgewood Principal said, “The Edgewood staff and community are exceptionally proud of the academic progress the students have shown these past few years. The teachers have worked extra hard to align the school’s curriculum with high standards and expectations. The support staff does everything possible to assist the teachers, and the Edgewood community solidifies the entire effort of the Edgewood family.” Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School Principal, Timothy Cool gives credit to the dedicated staff of highly trained teachers focusing on the College Board standards. “Our teachers work diligently to ensure each and every standard is covered and that the connection is made to math and science.”
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