Rebecca Reeder admits to "a certain amount" of pressure at Buffalo's Nardin
Academy High School, which has occupied first place ever since Business
First merged its rankings of public and private high schools in 2007.
"There's always the question of what people would think if we did drop
down," says Reeder, who is Nardin's principal. "But that's not our main
focus. It can't be. We go beyond looking at test results. We want to make
certain our students receive a well-rounded education."
That strategy has paid off again this year, as Nardin once again ranks No. 1
among Western New York's high schools. The all-girls Catholic school has
finished first for eight consecutive years -- among private schools from
2002 to 2006, and on the combined list ever since.
Full details will be available in Business First's 2009-10 Guide to Western
New York Schools, which hits newsstands tomorrow (Friday). Highlights are
also available at the newspaper's website: buffalo.bizjournals.com.
Williamsville East High School is No. 2 in the 2009 rankings, just as it was
a year ago. Neighboring Williamsville North High School holds third place
this time, up from fifth in 2008.
Business First analyzed 131 high schools in the eight-county region, using
four years of data from the New York State Education Department. The formula
weighed each school's Regents diploma rate, as well as its scores on a wide
array of Regents exams.
Nardin emerged as the clear leader. Ninety-nine percent of its 2008
graduates earned Regents diplomas with advanced designations, which are
awarded to seniors who pass eight Regents exams. No other high school in the
region did better than 85 percent.
Reeder says her goal is to push Nardin's advanced diploma rate one point
higher to 100 percent.
"We haven't done it, but it continues to be something that we shoot for,"
she says. "We always try to challenge our students, and this is definitely
one way to do it."
Williamsville East climbed to second place in 2008 -- its best finish ever
-- and remains there this year. It's one of three Western New York high
schools where more than two-thirds of students posted superior scores (85 or
better) on Regents exams in English, math, global history and U.S. history.
(Nardin and Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart are the others.)
"When you've done as well as we have, some people might think there's no
more room for improvement," says Neal Miller, Williamsville East's
principal. "But we've never thought that. Every year, we talk about ways
that we can get better."
The leader outside of Erie County is Notre Dame High School, which ranks
seventh overall. The Batavia school, which has an enrollment of 172, draws
students from six counties. Some live as far away as Brockport and Warsaw.
"There's no secret," says Joseph Scanlan, Notre Dame's principal. "We're
basically old school. We expect all of our kids to do well. Does that always
happen? No, but it doesn't mean that we let up."
Twenty-eight high schools are winners of subject awards, putting them among
the top 10 percent in English/foreign languages, math, science or social
studies.
Nardin, Williamsville East and Williamsville North are the only schools to
sweep all four subject awards, while 12 institutions are honored in a single
field. Principal Kevin Ryan credits longer class periods with helping Alden
Senior High School win its sole subject award in science.
"In both biology and earth science, we have an 80-minute class every day
along with an 80-minute lab every other day," he says. "That gives us some
really solid, concentrated time on science, which has had positive results."
Private schools are not required to administer Regents exams, and Buffalo
Seminary, Canisius High School, Nichols School and Park School of Buffalo
are among those that don't. They have been excluded from the academic
rankings, since Business First lacks the necessary data to generate
objective ratings.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
BUSINESS FIRST'S HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS
(EACH SCHOOL IS FOLLOWED BY THE DISTRICT IN WHICH IT'S LOCATED; SEE BOTTOM
OF PAGE FOR ABBREVIATIONS)
1. Nardin Academy HS (Buffalo)
2. Williamsville East HS (Williamsville)
3. Williamsville North HS (Williamsville)
4. Clarence SHS (Clarence)
5. City Honors School (Buffalo)
6. Mount St. Mary Academy (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
7. Notre Dame HS (Batavia)
8. East Aurora HS (East Aurora)
9. Christian Central Academy (Williamsville)
10. Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart (Amherst)
11. Holy Angels Academy (Buffalo)
12. Alfred-Almond JSHS (Alfred-Almond)
13. Immaculata Academy (Frontier)
14. St. Francis HS (Frontier)
15. St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
16. Orchard Park HS (Orchard Park)
17. Williamsville South HS (Williamsville)
18. St. Mary's HS (Lancaster)
19. Iroquois SHS (Iroquois)
20. Maple Grove JSHS (Bemus Point)
21. Eden JSHS (Eden)
22. Lewiston-Porter SHS (Lewiston-Porter)
23. Grand Island SHS (Grand Island)
24. Alden SHS (Alden)
25. West Seneca East SHS (West Seneca)
26. LeRoy JSHS (LeRoy)
27. Amherst Central HS (Amherst)
28. Holland HS (Holland)
29. Hamburg HS (Hamburg)
30. Fredonia HS (Fredonia)
31. Chautauqua Lake HS (Chautauqua Lake)
32. Akron HS (Akron)
33. Wilson HS (Wilson)
34. West Valley Central School (West Valley)
35. Southwestern SHS (Southwestern)
36. Lancaster HS (Lancaster)
37. Sweet Home SHS (Sweet Home)
38. Pembroke JSHS (Pembroke)
39. Sherman HS (Sherman)
40. Niagara-Wheatfield SHS (Niagara-Wheatfield)
41. West Seneca West SHS (West Seneca)
42. Mount Mercy Academy (Buffalo)
43. Elba JSHS (Elba)
44. Niagara Catholic HS (Niagara Falls)
45. Frontier SHS (Frontier)
46. Bishop Timon-St. Jude HS (Buffalo)
47. Barker HS (Barker)
48. Westfield HS (Westfield)
49. Starpoint HS (Starpoint)
50. Allegany-Limestone HS (Allegany-Limestone)
51. Griffith Institute HS (Springville-Griffith Institute)
52. Depew HS (Depew)
53. Newfane SHS (Newfane)
54. Pavilion JSHS (Pavilion)
55. Falconer MHS (Falconer)
56. Batavia HS (Batavia)
57. Byron-Bergen HS (Byron-Bergen)
58. Oakfield-Alabama MHS (Oakfield-Alabama)
59. L.A. Webber MHS (Lyndonville)
60. Belfast School (Belfast)
61. Ellicottville MHS (Ellicottville)
62. Wellsville SHS (Wellsville)
63. Attica SHS (Attica)
64. Maryvale HS (Cheektowaga-Maryvale)
65. Frewsburg JSHS (Frewsburg)
66. Kendall JSHS (Kendall)
67. Letchworth SHS (Letchworth)
68. North Tonawanda HS (North Tonawanda)
69. Silver Creek HS (Silver Creek)
70. Kenmore East SHS (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
71. Charles D'Amico HS (Albion)
72. Portville JSHS (Portville)
73. Pine Valley Central JSHS (Pine Valley)
74. Genesee Valley HS (Genesee Valley)
75. Alexander MHS (Alexander)
76. Cardinal O'Hara HS (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
77. Royalton-Hartland HS (Royalton-Hartland)
78. Kenmore West SHS (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
79. Cuba-Rushford HS (Cuba-Rushford)
80. Olean SHS (Olean)
81. North Collins JSHS (North Collins)
82. Lockport HS (Lockport)
83. Tonawanda SHS (Tonawanda)
84. Pioneer SHS (Yorkshire-Pioneer)
85. Clymer Central School (Clymer)
86. Hutchinson Central Technical HS (Buffalo)
87. Medina HS (Medina)
88. Perry HS (Perry)
89. Leonardo Da Vinci HS (Buffalo)
90. Cheektowaga HS (Cheektowaga)
91. Cleveland Hill HS (Cleveland Hill)
92. Warsaw JSHS (Warsaw)
93. Archbishop Walsh HS (Olean)
94. Randolph SHS (Randolph)
95. Whitesville Central School (Whitesville)
96. Fillmore Central School (Fillmore)
97. Cassadaga Valley MHS (Cassadaga Valley)
98. Ripley Central School (Ripley)
99. Panama HS (Panama)
100. Brocton MHS (Brocton)
101. Bolivar-Richburg JSHS (Bolivar-Richburg)
102. Andover School (Andover)
103. Hinsdale Central School (Hinsdale)
104. Jamestown HS (Jamestown)
105. CS for Applied Technologies (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
106. Lake Shore SHS (Evans-Brant)
107. Gowanda HS (Gowanda)
108. Franklinville JSHS (Franklinville)
109. Forestville MHS (Forestville)
110. Cattaraugus-Little Valley HS (Cattaraugus-Little Valley)
111. Holley JSHS (Holley)
112. John F. Kennedy SHS (Cheektowaga-Sloan)
113. Scio Central School (Scio)
114. Dunkirk SHS (Dunkirk)
115. Canaseraga School (Canaseraga)
116. Salamanca HS (Salamanca)
117. Niagara Falls HS (Niagara Falls)
118. Lackawanna HS (Lackawanna)
119. Friendship Central School (Friendship)
120. Buffalo Academy of Science CS (Buffalo)
121. Visual & Performing Arts Academy (Buffalo)
122. McKinley HS (Buffalo)
123. Emerson School of Hospitality (Buffalo)
124. Western New York Maritime CS (Buffalo)
125. Riverside Institute of Technology (Buffalo)
126. Lafayette HS (Buffalo)
127. South Park HS (Buffalo)
128. Bennett HS (Buffalo)
129. Burgard HS (Buffalo)
130. East HS (Buffalo)
131. Grover Cleveland HS (Buffalo)
ABBREVIATIONS: CS-Charter School, EMS-Elementary-Middle School,
ES-Elementary School, HS-High School, IS-Intermediate School, JHS-Junior
High School, JSHS-Junior-Senior High School, MHS-Middle-High School,
MS-Middle School, PS-Primary School, SHS-Senior High School, VHS-Vocational
High School.
East Aurora is an academic powerhouse. It has qualified for Business First's
Honor Roll of outstanding school districts every year but one since 1992.
Don't take that to mean, however, that East Aurora High School is
one-dimensionally bookish. It also happens to have the most successful
sports program of any public high school in Western New York, according to a
Business First analysis of records from 2005 to the present.
"We've been on a roll the last few years, which has been just great," says
Jay Hoagland, East Aurora's principal. "The people here expect us to have a
comprehensive athletics program. They support the budget. They've given us
first-rate athletics facilities. It's clearly a priority for the community."
East Aurora has won 17 sectional championships in team sports since 2005, a
record unmatched by any competitor in Section VI, which includes all public
high schools in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties and a
couple in Orleans County.
The result is a decisive victory on Business First's scale of athletic
excellence, which awards anywhere from one to four points for each sectional
title, giving the highest credit for championships won during the most
recent year.
East Aurora emerges as the region's best high school in team sports with 42
points. Orchard Park is second with 30 points, and Randolph, Clarence and
Maple Grove round out the top five.
The correlation between these standings and Business First's academic
ratings is surprisingly strong. Four of the top five schools for sports also
rank among Western New York's 20 best high schools academically.
"To some extent, success in one area can breed success in another," says
Hoagland. "If kids experience success outside the classroom, they develop a
sense of pride and self-worth. I think that carries over and helps them in
the classroom."
Business First tallied the Section VI champions in 18 interscholastic team
sports over the past four years, beginning with the spring season of 2005
and extending through the winter of 2009. (That timeframe was selected
because spring 2009 champions had not been determined by the deadline for
this publication.)
Basketball, bowling, cross country, lacrosse, soccer and volleyball, which
are played separately by boys and girls, accounted for 12 of the 18 sports
in the study. The other six were baseball, football and wrestling for boys,
field hockey and softball for girls, and rifle, which has coed teams.
The study did not include sports that crown individual, but not team
champions, such as golf, tennis and track and field.
Section VI slots schools into a variety of enrollment classifications for
different sports. Five champions are crowned each year in football, for
example, but only three in field hockey. Champs in all classifications were
counted equally in this study, yielding a mixture of big and small schools
in the top 10.
Business First based each school's final ranking on two factors -- its
number of sectional titles and the years in which they were won. Four points
were awarded for each victory during the most recent year (spring 2008
through winter 2009), down to one point for each title in the most distant
year (spring 2005 through winter 2006). Ties were broken by the total number
of championships.
Sixty-eight schools won a total of 296 titles in team sports during the
four-year period. These are the 10 high schools that rank the best:
1. East Aurora (42 points) -- What's striking about East Aurora is the
symmetry between its sports programs for girls and boys. The girls secured
sectional titles in cross country, lacrosse and soccer during the past four
years. The boys did exactly the same. The only difference is that the girls
won championships in basketball and volleyball, too. East Aurora's haul of
17 Section VI crowns is four higher than the total for any other school.
2. Orchard Park (30 points) -- Orchard Park pulled off two sweeps, winning
four straight titles in football and boys lacrosse. It added a pair of
victories in baseball and another two in boys volleyball, running its
overall count to 12 championships, all by male teams. That makes it the only
school in the top 10 to have a single gender earn all of its points.
3. Randolph (29 points) -- If the number of championships were the sole
factor in determining these standings, Randolph's 13 would vault it to
second place. Its big winners were its girls bowling and girls volleyball
teams, both with three sectional titles in four years. The football, boys
basketball and girls cross country programs chipped in two wins apiece.
4. Clarence (29 points) -- Clarence is tied with Randolph in points, but
ranks fourth overall because of two fewer championships. Girls were
responsible for five of Clarence's 11 titles, while boys won four, and the
coed rifle team picked up the remaining two. A couple of other teams also
earned a pair of sectional crowns: boys cross country and girls soccer.
5. Maple Grove (29 points) -- The 2008-2009 school year was a very good one
for Maple Grove's sports program, which came away with Section VI
championships in football, boys soccer, girls soccer and boys basketball in
the span of a few months. Its record since 2005 includes nine titles, five
by the boys and four by the girls.
6. Fredonia (28 points) -- The wrestling program was responsible for four of
Fredonia's 11 sectional crowns during the past four years. Fredonia also
sparkled on the diamond, as evidenced by its two championships in baseball
and another two in softball.
7. Lancaster (23 points) -- Lancaster's girls lacrosse program swept through
Section VI, earning four consecutive titles during the study period. Also
impressive were its girls volleyball (three championships) and wrestling
(two) teams. The school won 10 titles in all.
8. Hamburg (22 points) -- Lacrosse is king (and queen) in Hamburg, where the
boys and girls teams each reigned twice as sectional champs since 2005.
Victories by boys squads in baseball, cross country and volleyball rounded
out Hamburg's total of seven.
9. Forestville (21 points) -- No other school dominates a single sport the
way Forestville does bowling. Its boys team took all four championships, and
the girls won three themselves. Girls added a win in softball to bring the
overall count to eight.
10. Amherst (19 points) -- Girls did most of the heavy lifting in Amherst
the past four years, sweeping four lacrosse titles and adding one each in
basketball, cross country and field hockey. The boys, not to be shut out,
picked up a pair of lacrosse championships themselves.
This is the first time that Business First has analyzed the athletics
programs at local high schools. The resulting ratings are more limited in
scope than the academic rankings, which encompass all eight counties of
Western New York.
Section VI is closed to private schools, and its boundaries exclude three of
the region's easternmost counties: Allegany, Genesee and Wyoming. Yet the 93
high schools eligible for the sports rankings still account for more than
three-quarters of Western New York's total enrollment -- 78 percent of all
students from grades nine through 12.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
TOP 50 HIGH SCHOOLS IN BUSINESS FIRST'S SPORTS RANKINGS
1. East Aurora
2. Orchard Park
3. Randolph
4. Clarence
5. Maple Grove
6. Fredonia
7. Lancaster
8. Hamburg
9. Forestville
10. Amherst
11. Eden
12. Frewsburg
13. Starpoint
14. Falconer
15. Holland
15. Olean
17. Cheektowaga
18. Sweet Home
19. Niagara Falls
20. Barker
21. Williamsville North
21. Williamsville South
23. Pine Valley
24. Frontier
24. Salamanca
26. Kenmore East
27. Ripley
27. Sherman
27. West Seneca West
30. Iroquois
30. Lockport
32. Williamsville East
33. Lackawanna
34. Gowanda
35. Akron
35. Southwestern
37. Alden
37. Dunkirk
37. Tonawanda
37. West Seneca East
41. Silver Creek
42. Jamestown
42. Kenmore West
42. North Collins
42. Portville
46. Cassadaga Valley
46. McKinley
48. Franklinville
49. Niagara-Wheatfield
49. Wilson
NOTES: There were several ties for positions in the top 50. Rankings were
confined to public high schools competing in team sports in Section VI.
;)
