Newsweek Ranks Berkley High School Among Nation's Best

The got some great news this week: made it onto Newsweek magazine's annual list of America's Best High Schools.

BHS was ranked No. 333 nationwide and No. 9 in Michigan on the 2011 list. It was the fourth consecutive year the high school has been recognized by Newsweek.

"We are certainly pleased to see Berkley ranked the 9th best high school in Michigan," BSD Superintendent Michael Simeck wrote in an e-mail to Berkley Patch. "Berkley students come from homes that value both school and character. Berkley's students are modest, caring, and high achieving. Also, a look at the top schools will show that Berkley is far more religiously, economically, and ethnically diverse than any school on the list. That is a point of pride for our students and our parents.

"Our success starts at home and continues at school by having a skilled school board, committed administrators, dedicated teachers, and supportive staff," he wrote.

This year, Newsweek used an updated methodology "to develop a yardstick that fully reflects a school’s success turning out college-ready (and life-ready) students," the magazine said.

A panel of experts used six components to determine each school's ranking: graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), Advanced Placement tests taken per graduate (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/International Baccalaureate/Advance International Certificate of Education scores (10 percent), and AP courses offered (5 percent).

BHS's student-teacher ratio of 18-to-one, along with its 97 percent graduation and college acceptance rates, were key factors in the school's ranking.

"It's important to note that 'college readiness' is much more than a single score on a single test from a single day in a student's career," BSD Communications Supervisor Shira Good wrote in an e-mail to Berkley Patch. "Could you imagine if an employee's evaluation was based upon one day of performance? That is why we appreciate Newsweek's use of more than one point of data."

Berkley School District students also are among those in 17 Oakland County districts that participate in the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, a public, tuition-free high school of choice that was the top-ranked school in Michigan and No. 20 in the United States on Newsweek's list.

The top nine Michigan schools are:

Source: Newsweek