CHS Captures Top Spot for 2nd Year in a Row

This story originally appeared in The Churchill Observer, the student newspaper of Winston Churchill High School.

By Katie Quackenboss and Madison Farrand

U.S. News and World Report recently released its annual ratings of high schools across the nation. Winston Churchill High School is once again ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 52 in the country.

Rankings are based on four main criteria: percent of college readiness, algebra proficiency, English proficiency and student-to-teacher ratios. CHS performed well in each category, with 85.6 percent in college preparedness, 3.7 out of 4 in Algebra, 3.6 out of 4 in English, and a 19:1 student-teacher ratio.

U.S. News calculates its college preparedness percentage based on school-wide averages of AP participation and passage rates. CHS’ results are comparatively high, with a 92 percent participation rate in the AP program, and an average of 4.8 AP exams for each test-taker. The passing rate among the participating students is 91 percent.

“From test information, colleges can see that CHS is a rigorous academic environment,” college and career information coordinator Luana Zimmerman said. “Generally speaking, students who graduate from CHS are prepared for college level work. I believe that adds value to a student’s application.”

CHS’ consistently high test scores are a contributing factor to its success in the national and local rating systems. Based on the Maryland standardized High School Assessments (HSA), 64 percent are at or above the advanced level and an additional 33 percent of CHS students are considered proficient in English.  Similarly, 68 percent of students’ scores were advanced in the Algebra assessment, and 29 percent scored proficiently. In both cases, CHS scores are slightly higher than MCPS averages.

“We look very closely at student data to determine areas for improvement and to identify any pockets of students who are not meeting with success so that we can analyze why, and then make changes to give them the best opportunity to achieve,” assistant principal John Taylor said.

According to the CHS school improvement plan for the 2012-2013 school year, administrators focused on bettering student-teacher relationships in order to improve cooperation and provide a better learning environment in the classroom. Tactics include school-wide student surveys which gather information on teaching strategies in each classroom.

The continuous recognition CHS has received over the last few years for having exceptional staff and student accomplishments has students feeling motivated to exceed academic expectations and proud to be a part of such a highly-ranked school.

“It makes me feel proud to go to CHS,” sophomore Nesma Belkhodja said. “Since it’s at such a high level, I feel encouraged to take harder classes.”

The administration and staff will continue working to maintain CHS’ success and standards in coming years.

“The CHS staff and leadership is continually looking at students’ achievement and teacher expectations to ensure that all students are meeting the very high standards of our staff and teachers,” Taylor said. “Our staff is amazingly dedicated and hardworking, and these forces working together make for a consistently great school.”