Top 500 High Schools in the country.
Anyone who wastes a fraction of a second worrying about how good their kids' school is compared to how good somebody else's kids' school is needs to get a life. The end.
Sybil said:
I'm getting so sick and tired of meaningless & deceptive lists.
Fixed that for you.
What's interesting is that NJ has 56 schools on that list, including 6 of the top 10. Guess the teachers' union isn't doing that poor of a job (if you buy into these lists).
Agree will all three comments below the OP's link. But on the chance that anybody wonders why a search for Columbia on this list comes up empty: If CHS's scores on standardized tests were not at or above the 70th percentile in New Jersey, one of the top-performing states, it was ineligible for further consideration under Newsweek's methodology (ETA: at least as I understood it).
DaveSchmidt said:
Agree will all three comments below the OP's link. But on the chance that anybody wonders why a search for Columbia on this list comes up empty: If CHS's scores on standardized tests were not at or above the 70th percentile in New Jersey, one of the top-performing states, it was ineligible for further consideration under Newsweek's methodology.
So, if we just moved the CHS scores to a lower-performing state, we could make the top 10!
I did a couple of clicks to see what data they had included in this list.
First I sorted by "state" so I could focus on the NJ schools. For some reason, ALL NJ schools show up as Magnet schools?! In addition, how does Union County Tech get to be in the top 80-something with the ridiculously low Student Retention rate of 50.4%? How does Cresskill High School have a 104.7% retention rate?
Looks like another 'throw in some data, calculate some basic algorithm that may not make sense in reality, and make a ranked list'. They probably did this until the output was something that didn't seem horribly ridiculous (although they didn't even bother with data quality checks for those ridiculous retention rate numbers), and one that also incorporated schools from various states.
But just from my first 5 clicks, it looks like a lazy algorithm was used to compute these 'top 500'.
sprout said:
In addition, how does Union County Tech get to be in the top 80-something with the ridiculously low Student Retention rate of 50.4%?
Simple. Retention rate counts for 10% but college acceptance counts for 25%. If the 49.6% all go to college - you're looking pretty good.
IMHO, the major thing that matters is the quality of colleges that graduates attend. When we were looking to move to NJ, we checked out the different HS in the towns we were considering, and eliminated places where students didn't go to an Ivy League school, and where the overall colleges attended wasn't impressive. By that metric, CHS is an excellent school.
I am also impressed by what the CHS kids do after graduation. Ivy League schools are definitely on the list, but I'm more impressed by the RANGE of their ambitions -- schools in the US and abroad, Culinary Institute of America, the service academies, colleges off the beaten track that will offer what a kid is dying to do… I love it that CHS allows kids to be who they are -- no cookie cutter grads here!
relx said:
IMHO, the major thing that matters is the quality of colleges that graduates attend. When we were looking to move to NJ, we checked out the different HS in the towns we were considering, and eliminated places where students didn't go to an Ivy League school, and where the overall colleges attended wasn't impressive. By that metric, CHS is an excellent school.
This is an interesting way of looking at the schools and, I think, gives you a sense of the priorities and involvement of families in the district.
I don't get all excited when we make one of these lists, and I don't get all excited when we don't. It is fodder for some who went to CHS years back to say, "its not the same school it was when I was there" or for some to say its not all that good today. Yawn. Lets stop comparing apples and oranges (and also, if you are going to dismiss not making a list, dont then hold up the one we do make as some revelation). I've had the good fortune to be around the school for a number of years as a community member and there are really good things happening there. Unfortunately, more in the community, especially those newer and/or with younger children don't get to see and hear and understand all that. Bad news makes news but its a very small aspect of what transpires there day to day. In fact, many of the "controversies" of the recent past do not impact most of the students who are too busy and focused with school and extracurriculars to get sidetracked. What I hear from many former students is what encourages me most: CHS prepared them well for all aspects of college, not just the academics but the socialization.
Amusingly, a friend earlier today was Facebragging about their high school in NJ making the list...and the first responses were complaints from oher parents at that school about the facilities and programming (a newer regional hs by the way). So even when the grass is listed as Top 500 Greenest on the Other Side, its not necessarily to everyone.
Millburn HS made the list. From what I know about MHS as compared to CHS (from people who know both), I am very happy my kids went to CHS. And they are both excelling in college. Also what Hank and Marcia and others said.
My own kid aside
Schools I like ignore these lists
And count syllabi
Focus on your schools
Plenty of school districts
Don't care about this
Why make a big race
That you can not ever win
a diffferent world
yahooyahoo said:
What the hell is an enrollment rate?
The percentage who enroll in college.
DaveSchmidt said:
My own kid aside
Schools I like ignore these lists
And count syllabi
The best thing to do
Why care about someone else
If your kid does great
(Happy for haiku
Responders who like to think
About the real stuff
Been a long time since / I've explicated haiku, / but if what you mean / is not bothering / to compare one's own children / with any others / if they're doing fine / (not disregarding / whether other schoolchildren / do fine, too), then yes.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
My kids did fine,
Hope yours do fine, too.
What is Basking Ridge like? Ridge High seems like a great school but I don't know anything about the town.
unixiscool said:
What is Basking Ridge like? Ridge High seems like a great school but I don't know anything about the town.
Very Affluent, overwhelmingly white.
I hate these phony lists. Basically what it comes down to is the higher the local income and lower the diversity, the higher the rating (with a few exceptions for selective schools). What makes Newsweek qualified to rate schools anyway? Last time I checked Newsweek was a magazine, not a school rating expert. Dry cleaners and used car sales personnel might be equally qualifed.
mod said:
unixiscool said:Very Affluent, overwhelmingly white.
What is Basking Ridge like? Ridge High seems like a great school but I don't know anything about the town.
Sadly, school rating lists are (by and large) a measure of affluence and whiteness.
SlyFoxy1