Simley Ranked Among Top National High Schools

was ranked nationally in the Washington Post’s annual High School Challenge.

The Post ranked Simley as the 989^th top high school in the country and as 16^th in Minnesota.

“Simley High School cares,” said Deirdre Wells, superintendent of Independent School District 199. “That’s what this reflects.”

Simley has a history of receiving similar accolades. Last year, the school was ranked 985^th on the High School Challenge list, according to district communications coordinator Johnny Germscheid.

In 2011, Simley was ranked 478^th on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools. Simley came in at 800^th on the list in 2010 and in 2009 the school was ranked 1,144^th, according to Germscheid.

Simley did not receive a ranking on Newsweek’s list for 2012.

“Things are getting more competitive,” said Gerald Sakala, principal of Simley High School and director of secondary instruction for District 199.

The Post ranks schools by configuring their high school index scores. These scores consist of the number of college-level tests a school administers divided by the school’s number of annual graduates.

Until recently, Newsweek ranked schools using a similar system. However, the publication changed its ranking criteria two years ago, when it was bought by the Daily Beast, said Sakala.

The Newsweek ranking method now considers six factors: graduation rate, college matriculation rate, AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student, average SAT/ACT scores, average AP/IB/AICE scores and AP courses offered per student.

One aspect that sets Simley apart from many competing schools is its open-enrollment approach to AP classes. Any Simley student may enroll in any AP course offered.

“Really, it does boil down to work ethic,” said Sakala, of the school’s AP course offerings. “We will take anybody who’s willing to accept the challenge.”

Simley’s first AP course was introduced to the school’s curriculum in the mid-1980s. Today, Simley offers 16 AP classes. The school introduced its open enrollment policy in 2005.

Throughout the past three years, more than 60 percent of Simley AP enrollees have received a score of 3 or higher on their AP tests, according to documents provided by Sakala.

“Students have risen to the challenge,” said Sakala.