With approximately 27,000 public high schools in the United States today, it seems a daunting task for any one school to stand out at the national level. As a rather unassuming public school in suburban Pennsylvania, North Penn High School may not seem to be a candidate for recognition among 27,000, a staggering number including schools from every state in the country. Yet North Penn has been included on the Washington Post’s list of top US high schools, the “High School Challenge,” for the past four years, and recently earned approval on US News and World Report’s list of national and state rankings. What does North Penn offer its pupils that makes it eligible for such prestigious accolades? The answer lies in a commitment to challenging its students with AP courses and expanding academic opportunities to the entirety of its populous student body.
The Washington Post conducts its High School Challenge yearly, gauging US secondary schools on a scale it calls equity and excellence. A school’s commitment to preparing students for college is considered on the basis of its Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and other college-level tests administered, while its opportunities for low-income students are judged based on numbers of students who qualify for free or reduced lunches. North Penn recently clocked in at 1,714th nationally and 22nd in the state according to the Post’s rankings. To add to the honors, US News and World Report placed North Penn at 36th in the state of Pennsylvania and 1,338th nationally this year – up significantly from last year’s ranking of 46th in Pennsylvania and 1,450th nationally.
North Penn’s Principal Burton T. Hynes was more than pleased with the results of this year’s ratings, responding that “It’s congratulations to the school and to the students and teachers. As administrators we just coordinate…The real hard work is done by the students and done by the teachers who are ensuring that the young folks in this building have the background to be able to be successful.”
Appearance on prestigious lists of top high schools such as the Washington Post’s or US News and World Report’s is important for much more than just bragging rights. Identification as a high-achieving school has tangible and very positive implications for North Penn as families of students and potential students recognize the school’s academic merits.
“To be on that list says that the school has an academic focus, but it also says it’s a school that’s definitely in a place you want to live…If you’re moving into this area, you want to look at which schools are considered the top-performing schools so that your children can go there,” said Hynes. “So it’s important for us to be on that list: it helps real estate values in this community, it helps people look at the school and say, ‘Here’s a school that’s going to prepare my son or my daughter for college.’”
Achieving recognition on a state and national scale has been no small task. North Penn has established multiple initiatives over the past several years which encourage AP enrollment, from an AP showcase to new final exam exemption incentives. Since many high school ranking systems take the number of students taking college-level courses into account, it is only natural that North Penn has received an influx in acknowledgment recently.
“It’s been a multi-pronged approach: one is just awareness; two, we began increasing the number of AP courses, and then from there…we opened up the opportunity to exempt [final] exams for students who take the AP test. Those pieces have brought together an increase in students taking AP courses, and not only just taking the courses but also taking the AP test…and then doing well on that test,” said Hynes. “I’m very pleased with the students who have challenged themselves. They work for the fours and fives, but you can’t get that if the teachers aren’t providing the knowledge base and the skills that are necessary…so a lot of credit goes to the teachers as well.”
The benefits of AP courses are not by any means limited to the recognition they earn for the high school, however. North Penn’s campaign for increased AP course enrollment has more practical and educational motives than merely to boost its own reputation. Students seeking a greater level of academic rigor and deeper understanding of a topic find valuable opportunities in the wide variety of college-level courses offered by their high school.
“[The courses are] interesting: the level of discussion is a higher level than what you’re seeing in some of the other classes in the building,” said Hynes. “So for some students, it’s just become an academic stimulus that they can challenge themselves with.”
College preparation is another key motivator for enrolling more pupils in AP level classes, which can help ready students for the potentially challenging rigor of college academics. Hynes reasons that “the volume of work on your own, the volume of reading, and the volume of writing is not what the average person is used to. But if you can do an AP program, you’re ready for college, and we want students to leave high school and go into college and be successful in college without feeling like they’re totally lost.”
Not only do AP courses offer the benefit of increased ease at the college level but can potentially decrease the number of credits necessary for college graduation, freeing up funds or time to take other, more enjoyable classes.
“I’ve heard of some of our students getting done in college in three and a half years because of the number of AP courses they took and how they did in them,” said Hynes. “Economically, it’s a good deal.”
With a strong belief in the merits of offering a wide range of college-level courses and enrolling an ever-growing percentage of the student body in them, North Penn has committed its time and resources in recent years to encouraging students to challenge themselves with more rigorous curricula – and not without reward. The Washington Post and US News and World Report have awarded North Penn with consistent national recognition for the efforts of their students, teachers, and administration, accolades which top off an already-successful year for North Penn’s academics.
“The push to take more AP courses creates opportunities for students; that’s where I’m coming from,” said Hynes. “And along the way, if we can gain national recognition for our efforts, that’s icing on the cake.”