WHS recognized by national publication

Whitehall High School was recently recognized by a prestigious national publication as one of the best high schools in Montana, as well as earning a Bronze medal in national rankings.

The school was one of the 16 percent of schools nation wide and 30 in Montana that received the Bronze medal recognition from U.S. News & World Report.

“We were pleased to be recognized as a nationally competitive high school and one of the best high schools in Montana,” said Principal Hannah Nieskens. “A lot of effort goes in to creating a school culture of academic success and student achievement. It is essential to have highly capable and committed staff, updated and rigorous instructional materials and curriculum, effective interventions for struggling students, opportunities for advanced students to be challenged, school board, community and parent support, and of course hardworking students who are committed to their own success. When these essential components are in place it is possible to raise graduation rates, improve test scores, and provide better college and career readiness.”

Whitehall Superintendent John Sullivan said this a great honor for both the school and community, and praised Nieskens for doing a great job in her three years in the position. He also credited the Board of Trustees for working with the administration.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT CRITERIA

STEP 1 | Students exceeded expectations in their states.

We looked at whether each school’s relative performance in its state reading and mathematics assessments exceeded expectations, factoring in the proportion of its student body that is economically disadvantaged and projected to score lower.

STEP 2 | Underserved students performed better than the state average.

Next, we compared each school’s reading and mathematics assessment scores among only their historically underserved students - black, Hispanic and low-income - with the average statewide results for these subgroups. We selected schools that outperformed their state averages.

STEP 3 | Student graduation rates met a threshold.

We excluded schools from consideration if their graduation rates were lower than 80 percent.

STEP 4 | Students were prepared for college-level coursework.

For schools passing the first three steps, we calculated a College Readiness Index based on the percentages of each school’s students who took and passed AP and IB exams. Tiebreakers determined the ranks of schools achieving the same CRI.