Addison Trail and Willowbrook named two of ‘America’s Most Challenging High Schools’ by The Washington Post

I am proud to announce Addison Trail and Willowbrook have again been named as two of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” by The Washington Post.

This is one of the most substantial ranking systems with regard to school performance, and we’re thrilled to have both schools recognized. The challenge ranks schools through an index formula that’s a ratio of the number of college-level tests given at a school in the previous calendar year, divided by the number of graduates that year. A ratio of 1.00 means the school had as many tests as graduates. Columnist Jay Mathews implemented this national ranking system for high schools, which formerly was in Newsweek, and District 88 has been ranked in his challenge index for eight consecutive years (since 2008). For details about the challenge, go to www.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge. 

This year, 11 percent of the nearly 22,000 U.S. public high schools made Mathew’s list. More than 2,300 high schools were ranked, and Addison Trail and Willowbrook have been named as two of the top/most challenging schools in the U.S.

This level of success is a result of the hard work and dedication of our staff, Board of Education, parents/guardians, students and community members. It is through our partnerships and working together that we’re able to earn this honor and accomplish our mission of working for the continuous improvement of student achievement. Thank you for your continued support of District 88.

With District 88 pride,
Dr. Scott Helton
District 88 Superintendent