Addison Trail and Willowbrook receive two national honors

I am proud to announce Addison Trail and Willowbrook have again received two national honors.

Both schools have been named as “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” by The Washington Post, as well as “Best High Schools” by U.S. News & World Report. Those are two of the most substantial ranking systems with regard to school performance, and we’re thrilled to have both schools recognized.

“America’s Most Challenging High Schools” ranks schools through an index formula that’s a ratio of the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated 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 nine consecutive years (since 2008). For details about the challenge, go to http://tinyurl.com/jrms8wl. This year, nearly 2,300 public high schools in the U.S. and 71 public high schools in Illinois made Mathews's list, and we’re honored Addison Trail and Willowbrook have been named as two of the top/most challenging schools in the U.S.

According to www.usnews.com, the comprehensive rankings methodology used to determine the “Best High Schools” is based on these key principles: that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are college bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show it is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators. In a major change to the “Best High Schools” rankings methodology, U.S. News has added a new step this year focused on graduation rates. Schools now have to meet or exceed a national standard high school graduation rate to be considered top-performing schools and to be ranked at a national level. This year’s process involved reviewing 28,561 U.S. public high schools, and 171 Illinois schools made the “Best High Schools” ranking – including Addison Trail and Willowbrook, which both received silver medals. For details about this recognition, go to www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools. 

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 these honors and accomplish our mission of working for the continuous improvement of student achievement. Thank you for your continued support of District 88.