TRANSIT VAULTS PAST CASEY TO REGAIN FIRST PLACE

The No. 1 ranking among Western New York's middle schools has resembled a
revolving door in recent years.

Williamsville's Transit Middle School finished first in 2006. Buffalo's City
Honors School pushed into the top spot in 2007. And Williamsville's Casey
Middle School rotated to the front in 2008.

Which brings us full circle. Transit has regained first place this year,
marking its fourth appearance at the head of the list since Business First
began rating middle schools in 2002.

"We're very proud of our record," says Jill Pellis, Transit's principal. "It
comes from a combination of things -- children who are prepared and ready to
learn, families who support education at home, and an outstanding staff of
teachers who take their jobs very seriously."

Full details will be available in Business First's 2009-10 Guide to Western
New York Schools, which hits newsstands Friday. Highlights are also
available at the newspaper's website: buffalo.bizjournals.com.

Last year's champion, Casey, is this year's runner-up. The two Williamsville
schools, which are just three miles apart, annually contend for first place
in the middle school rankings.

"But there's no competition between us, not at all," says Pellis. "My
colleagues at Casey are wonderful. We all want our kids to do well, and we
were thrilled for them last year."

Ranked third through fifth, respectively, are Christ the King School of
Amherst, City Honors and Amherst Middle School.

Business First assessed 211 middle schools across Western New York, combing
through four years of statewide test results for eighth graders. All test
scores were provided by the New York State Education Department.

Middle schools typically run from sixth through eighth grade, though some
begin in fifth grade. Many private schools and a few public schools have an
even broader span, educating everyone from kindergartners to eighth graders.
They consequently receive two rankings from Business First -- one as a
middle school, another as an elementary school.

Transit earned first place on the middle school list with a well-balanced
curriculum:

€ It was one of four Western New York schools where more than half of all
eighth graders achieved superior scores (Level 4) on the statewide math test
in 2008.

€ It was among four schools where more than 20 percent of eighth graders hit
the superior level on the statewide English test.

€ It was one of just two schools to belong to both groups above. (The other
was Kadimah School of Buffalo.)

Five of the top six middle schools are public institutions, with Christ the
King the sole exception. A second Catholic school, St. Gregory the Great,
has edged up to seventh place from ninth a year ago.

St. Gregory is unusually large for a private school, with 650 students from
preschool through middle school. Principal Patricia Freund says the
Williamsville school's size has helped it rise in the rankings.

"It absolutely is an advantage," she says. "It allows us to have more
programming available, more to choose from. For example, we have three
classes at every grade, and we have a complete special-education team, too."

The 11 leaders in the middle school standings are all in Erie County. The
top-rated outsider is No. 12 Stella Niagara Education Park, which is located
within the Lewiston-Porter district in Niagara County, but draws from a
radius that is considerably larger.

"We actually have a pretty broad geographic base," says Kristen deGuehery,
the school's director of institutional advancement. "We have students from
Lockport, Kenmore, Grand Island, even five families who come over from
Canada. They went out and got their Nexus cards, and they make the drive
every day."

Thirty-four middle schools have qualified for subject awards, putting them
among the 10 percent of Western New York middle schools that rank the
highest in English or math.

Ten schools have earned honors in both subjects. Among them are Transit,
Casey and the six schools immediately behind them in the overall standings.

Also sweeping a pair of subject awards is No. 11 Kadimah School of Buffalo,
which (despite its formal name) is located in the Amherst district. Kadimah
was the top-rated school in its category in 2002 and 2003, back when
Business First ranked private K-8 schools separately. But it slipped to 47th
place by 2007, when the combined public-private rankings of middle schools
debuted.

Joel Weiss, Kadimah's head of school, says the Jewish school has employed a
simple strategy to rebound -- plenty of hard work by everyone involved.

"If you send your child to Kadimah, it's a parental commitment," he says.
"If your child needs extra help, you have to be willing to provide that
extra help. At the same time, our teachers go above and beyond. We have
teachers who work with students on Sunday at the library. They work with
them at all hours of the night."

Private schools that don't participate in the statewide testing program are
not included in Business First's rankings, since their performances can't be
measured against standardized benchmarks. Among the better-known middle
schools that don't take part are Elmwood Franklin School, Nichols School and
Park School of Buffalo.

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BUSINESS FIRST'S MIDDLE SCHOOL RANKINGS
(EACH SCHOOL IS FOLLOWED BY THE DISTRICT IN WHICH IT'S LOCATED; SEE BOTTOM
OF PAGE FOR ABBREVIATIONS)

1. Transit MS (Williamsville)
2. Casey MS (Williamsville)
3. Christ the King School (Amherst)
4. City Honors School (Buffalo)
5. Amherst MS (Amherst)
6. Mill MS (Williamsville)
7. St. Gregory the Great School (Williamsville)
8. St. Christopher's School (Sweet Home)
9. Heim MS (Williamsville)
10. St. Leo the Great School (Sweet Home)
11. Kadimah School of Buffalo (Amherst)
12. Stella Niagara Education Park (Lewiston-Porter)
13. St. Mark's School (Buffalo)
14. Christian Central Academy (Williamsville)
15. St. Mary's School (Williamsville)
16. Clarence MS (Clarence)
17. St. John Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield)
18. Immaculate Conception School (East Aurora)
19. St. Peter & Paul School (Hamburg)
20. Nardin Academy ES (Buffalo)
21. Maple Grove JSHS (Bemus Point)
22. Queen of Heaven School (West Seneca)
23. St. John the Baptist School (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
24. East Aurora MS (East Aurora)
25. Alden MS (Alden)
26. Orchard Park MS (Orchard Park)
27. Chautauqua Lake MS (Chautauqua Lake)
28. Akron MS (Akron)
29. St. Stephen School (Grand Island)
30. St. Peter & Paul School (Williamsville)
31. Iroquois MS (Iroquois)
32. Holland MS (Holland)
33. Nativity of Our Lord School (Orchard Park)
34. West Valley Central School (West Valley)
35. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School (Clarence)
36. Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School (Iroquois)
37. Hamburg MS (Hamburg)
38. Holy Family School (LeRoy)
39. Frontier MS (Frontier)
40. St. Andrew's Country Day School (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
41. Wyoming Central School (Wyoming)
42. Lancaster MS (Lancaster)
43. Veronica E. Connor MS (Grand Island)
44. St. Bernadette School (Orchard Park)
45. West MS (West Seneca)
46. Herbert Hoover MS (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
47. East MS (West Seneca)
48. Alfred-Almond JSHS (Alfred-Almond)
49. Sweet Home MS (Sweet Home)
50. Lewiston-Porter MS (Lewiston-Porter)
51. Newfane MS (Newfane)
52. Immaculate Conception School (Wellsville)
53. Kenmore MS (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
54. Eden JSHS (Eden)
55. Tonawanda MS (Tonawanda)
56. DeSales Catholic ES (Lockport)
57. Holy Ghost Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield)
58. Catholic Academy of the Holy Family (Jamestown)
59. Barker MS (Barker)
60. Lake Shore Central MS (Evans-Brant)
61. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School (West Seneca)
62. Southwestern MS (Southwestern)
63. St. Benedict's School (Amherst)
64. Clymer Central School (Clymer)
65. St. Francis of Assisi School (Tonawanda)
66. St. Matthew Lutheran School (North Tonawanda)
67. St. John Vianney School (Orchard Park)
68. Maryvale MS (Cheektowaga-Maryvale)
69. Wilson HS (Wilson)
70. Starpoint MS (Starpoint)
71. St. Mary's ES (Lancaster)
72. Batavia MS (Batavia)
73. North Collins JSHS (North Collins)
74. Elba JSHS (Elba)
75. Cleveland Hill MS (Cleveland Hill)
76. St. Aloysius Regional School (Springville-Griffith Institute)
77. P.S. 56 Frederick Law Olmsted (Buffalo)
78. Fourteen Holy Helpers School (West Seneca)
79. Fredonia MS (Fredonia)
80. North Tonawanda Catholic School (North Tonawanda)
81. St. Paul's School (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
82. Ben Franklin MS (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
83. Allegany-Limestone MS (Allegany-Limestone)
84. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School (Lancaster)
85. Tapestry CS (Buffalo)
86. St. Amelia School (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
87. Letchworth MS (Letchworth)
88. St. Peter's Lutheran School (Niagara-Wheatfield)
89. Edward Town MS (Niagara-Wheatfield)
90. Depew MS (Depew)
91. Northern Chautauqua Catholic School (Dunkirk)
92. St. Peter School (Lewiston-Porter)
93. Whitesville Central School (Whitesville)
94. Royalton-Hartland MS (Royalton-Hartland)
95. St. Mary's of the Lake School (Frontier)
96. St. Dominic Savio MS (Niagara Falls)
97. Griffith Institute MS (Springville-Griffith Institute)
98. Pavilion JSHS (Pavilion)
99. LeRoy JSHS (LeRoy)
100. Emmet Belknap MS (Lockport)
101. Gowanda MS (Gowanda)
102. Westminster Community CS (Buffalo)
103. Persell MS (Jamestown)
104. North Tonawanda MS (North Tonawanda)
105. Pembroke JSHS (Pembroke)
106. North Park MS (Lockport)
107. Silver Creek MS (Silver Creek)
108. Perry MS (Perry)
109. Clifford Wise MS (Medina)
110. Fillmore Central School (Fillmore)
111. Sherman HS (Sherman)
112. Salamanca MS (Salamanca)
113. Jefferson MS (Jamestown)
114. Our Lady of Victory School (Lackawanna)
115. St. Vincent DePaul School (Iroquois)
116. Cuba-Rushford MS (Cuba-Rushford)
117. Ellicottville MHS (Ellicottville)
118. Carl I. Bergerson MS (Albion)
119. Pioneer MS (Yorkshire-Pioneer)
120. Our Lady of Pompeii School (Lancaster)
121. Ripley Central School (Ripley)
122. Randolph MS (Randolph)
123. Falconer MHS (Falconer)
124. St. Joseph School (Batavia)
125. Southtowns Catholic School (Frontier)
126. Oakfield-Alabama MHS (Oakfield-Alabama)
127. St. Joseph School (Gowanda)
128. Brocton MHS (Brocton)
129. Cheektowaga MS (Cheektowaga)
130. Olean MS (Olean)
131. St. Margaret School (Buffalo)
132. Westfield MS (Westfield)
133. Bolivar-Richburg JSHS (Bolivar-Richburg)
134. Alexander MHS (Alexander)
135. Ambrose Catholic Academy (Buffalo)
136. Catholic Academy of West Buffalo (Buffalo)
137. L.A. Webber MHS (Lyndonville)
138. Pine Valley Central JSHS (Pine Valley)
139. Byron-Bergen MS (Byron-Bergen)
140. St. John the Baptist School (Alden)
141. Kendall JSHS (Kendall)
142. Attica JHS (Attica)
143. Trinity Christian School (West Seneca)
144. Portville JSHS (Portville)
145. John F. Kennedy MS (Cheektowaga-Sloan)
146. Frewsburg JSHS (Frewsburg)
147. Cassadaga Valley HS (Cassadaga Valley)
148. Washington MS (Jamestown)
149. Wellsville MS (Wellsville)
150. Panama HS (Panama)
151. Cattaraugus-Little Valley MS (Cattaraugus-Little Valley)
152. Christian Academy of Western New York (Lockport)
153. Forestville Central HS (Forestville)
154. Franklinville JSHS (Franklinville)
155. South Buffalo CS (Buffalo)
156. Mary Queen of Angels School (Cheektowaga)
157. Canaseraga School (Canaseraga)
158. St. Joseph School (Buffalo)
159. LaSalle Preparatory School (Niagara Falls)
160. Friendship Central School (Friendship)
161. Warsaw JSHS (Warsaw)
162. Belfast School (Belfast)
163. Holley JSHS (Holley)
164. P.S. 81 (Buffalo)
165. P.S. 32 Bennett Park Montessori School (Buffalo)
166. Southern Tier Catholic School (Olean)
167. Notre Dame Academy (Buffalo)
168. Hinsdale Central School (Hinsdale)
169. Scio Central School (Scio)
170. Gaskill Preparatory School (Niagara Falls)
171. CS for Applied Technologies (Kenmore-Tonawanda)
172. Genesee Valley MS (Genesee Valley)
173. Andover School (Andover)
174. Lackawanna MS (Lackawanna)
175. P.S. 72 Lorraine ES (Buffalo)
176. Visual & Performing Arts Academy (Buffalo)
177. Our Lady of Black Rock (Buffalo)
178. Trinity Catholic Academy (Buffalo)
179. P.S. 69 Houghton Academy (Buffalo)
180. Dunkirk MS (Dunkirk)
181. Buffalo Academy of Science CS (Buffalo)
182. Oracle CS (Buffalo)
183. P.S. 3 D'Youville-Porter Campus (Buffalo)
184. Pinnacle CS (Buffalo)
185. P.S. 93 Southside ES (Buffalo)
186. P.S. 96 Campus West (Buffalo)
187. P.S. 19 Native American Magnet (Buffalo)
188. Enterprise CS (Buffalo)
189. P.S. 89 Lydia Wright School of Excellence (Buffalo)
190. P.S. 95 Waterfront ES (Buffalo)
191. P.S. 27 Hillery Park ES (Buffalo)
192. P.S. 59 Charles Drew Science Magnet (Buffalo)
193. P.S. 43 Lovejoy Discovery (Buffalo)
194. P.S. 33 Bilingual Center (Buffalo)
195. P.S. 39 Martin Luther King Multicultural Institute (Buffalo)
196. P.S. 66 North Park Middle Academy (Buffalo)
197. P.S. 91 Build Academy (Buffalo)
198. P.S. 53 Community School (Buffalo)
199. P.S. 74 Hamlin Park ES (Buffalo)
200. P.S. 18 Antonia Pantoja School of Excellence (Buffalo)
201. P.S. 45 International School (Buffalo)
202. P.S. 31 Harriet Ross Tubman (Buffalo)
203. P.S. 80 Highgate Heights ES (Buffalo)
204. P.S. 79 Grabiarz School of Excellence (Buffalo)
205. P.S. 76 Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy (Buffalo)
206. P.S. 37 Futures Academy (Buffalo)
207. P.S. 6 Buffalo ES of Technology (Buffalo)
208. Catholic Central School (Buffalo)
209. P.S. 30 Frank Sedita Academy (Buffalo)
210. P.S. 94 West Hertel Academy (Buffalo)
211. P.S. 97 Harvey Austin (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.