Grosse Ile High School Recognized by Washington Post

Grosse Ile High School Recognized for College Preparation Excellence

Each year, Washington Post Education Writer Jay Mathews invites all of the nation's approximately 22,000 public high schools to submit information to be ranked among the nation's best in preparing students for success in college.  The distinguished long-time columnist recently determined that Grosse Ile High School qualifies for the media organization's 2014 "Challenge Index" list.

The criteria for this prestigious recognition is based on adding up the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests annually given at a school in the previous year.  This total is then divided by the number of seniors who graduated in the spring.

All schools that achieve a "Challenge Index" ratio of at least 1.000 meet the standard for ranking.  Grosse Ile High School earned a score of 1.318.

Grosse Ile High School has long placed a special emphasis on college preparation.

Over the last thirty years, about 85% of Grosse Ile graduates have advanced to postsecondary education.  In recent years, the school has implemented new learning systems and strategies designed to boost college readiness, resulting in higher graduation rates and ACT scores.

For both 2012 and 2013 GIHS had the second highest graduation rate among all public school districts in Michigan.  The Class of 2013 graduated with a final ACT composite of 23.6 compared to the state-wide average of 19.7.

The Washington Post's entire 2014 "Challenge Index" list of high schools can be viewed online at http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2014/list/national/.

Jay Mathews is an education columnist and blogger for the Washington Post, his employer for 40 years. He is the author of seven books, including three about high schools and his most recent, a New York Times bestseller, about the birth and growth of the KIPP charter school network. He created the annual Challenge Index rankings of high schools (formerly in newsweek.com, now at washingtonpost.com). He has won several awards for education writing and was given the Upton Sinclair award as “a beacon of light in the realm of education.” He has won the Eugene Meyer Award for distinguished service to The Washington Post.