Posen High School earns award from national publication

U.S. News & World Report honored Posen High School (PHS) with a bronze award in the magazine?s annual secondary education report, ?America?s Best High Schools,? announced Dec. 8. Each year, more than 21,000 public high schools in the nation are rated on state test scores, the performance of at_risk students, and the accessibility of college_level coursework. The magazine enlists the service of School Evaluation Services, a research business from Standard & Poor?s, to analyze high schools performing at levels that are higher than statistical expectations.

According to the group?s Web site, www.schoolmatters.com, the data compilation provides the public with an objective analysis of data from schools and their districts. U.S. News & World Report based this year?s study on data from the 2006-2007 academic year. The ranking criteria include a range of performance indicators, including demographic information, overall student performance and college readiness. Schools earning the Gold Award are the top 100 based on a College Readiness Index. Those with a high index score that are not ranked in the top 100 earn the silver designation. Bronze medals go to schools that achieve in one area but do not rank as high in another. ?We received the honor because of how our students did on their state and national test scores,? said superintendent/principal Dru Milliron at Monday?s board of education meeting. ?It definitely is a great accomplishment and it shows just how well our staff does in teaching our students.?

While it is an award for the high school, Milliron said it starts at

the elementary level, on up. ?They (staff) do a wonderful job and this is another way to show it.? ?The Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) salutes your outstanding achievement of serving all students and producing measurable academic outcomes that shows your school is successfully educating your students across a range of performance indicators,? said MASB executive director Kathy Hayes. ?It?s quite an accomplishment,? said president Ken Wozniak. ?Based on the juniors ACT scores that have been coming in, we?ll probably get it again next year easily,? said Glenn Budnick, a member of the secondary staff.

PHS is one of 52 schools in the state to be honored with a bronze award, or about 8.7 percent of Michigan?s school districts. Hillman and Rogers City have received the honor in recent years; however, PHS is the only district in the area to get it this year.