Rockwood High Schools Receive U.S. News Ranking, Or Not

Only one of four high schools was slotted in this year's U.S. News & World Report national ranking of best schools, per the list released Tuesday. However one area school district—Clayton School District—garnered a No. 2 spot this year among Missouri-based high schools on the list. Clayton School District is listed as No. 136 on this list's national ranking.

Lafayette High School in Wildwood and Eureka High School in Eureka went "unranked" by U.S. News Report, yet Rockwood's Marquette High School in Chesterfield ended up No. 5 for Missouri high schools on this particular list. Its national ranking on the list was No. 552. Rockwood Summit High School in Fenton also was unranked this year.

The annual assessment includes public, magnet and charter schools.

A PR Newswire release indicated the list will be one of the most extensive analyses and national rankings of U.S. public high schools ever published, with comprehensive profiles on nearly 22,000 public high schools and rankings of the nation's 4,877 highest-scoring schools.

• College Readiness Index 47.5
• Algebra 1 Proficiency 2.6
• English 2 Proficiency 3.2
• Student/Teacher Ratio 15:1

Academic Indicators were stated by U.S. News Report as:

• College Readiness Index 42.1
• Algebra 1 Proficiency 2.6
• English 2 Proficiency 3.3
• Student/Teacher Ratio 17:1

In contrast, Marquette High School's Academic Indicators were stated by U.S. News Report as:

• College Readiness Index 43.8
• Algebra 1 Proficiency 2.7
• English 2 Proficiency 3.3
• Student/Teacher Ratio 16:1

Eureka, Lafayette and Rockwood Summit high schools have been included in other lists done by other media sources for top U.S. high schools, however. Rockwood's Marketing and Media Specialist Gina Tarte said all four of the district's high schools were ranked by Newsweek in 2010.

But in 2011, Newsweek changed its criteria and only Rockwood Summit made its list, Tarte told Patch.

The PR Newswire release stated that to create the 2012 U.S. News Best High Schools list, U.S. News teamed up with the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research (AIR), one of the largest behavioral and social science research organizations in the world. AIR implemented U.S. News' comprehensive rankings methodology, which reflects how well high schools serve all attending students, not just those college-bound, the release stated.

Editor's Note:  This bubble-bursting/less than positive news for local high school families comes at a sensitive time, with seniors still finalizing college plans and about to propel themselves into the world. Are you surprised that Eureka and Lafayette high schools were not ranked? Are you concerned? Share your reaction in the comments' section of this article.