BASIS Tucson & University High School Lead Strong Arizona Showing in
U.S. News & World Report Ranking of Nation’s Top Public High Schools

TUCSON – December 16, 2009 – A tradition of academic excellence is growing at two Tucson high schools, and the results are being talked about nationwide!

BASIS Tucson and University High School have once again distinguished themselves among the nation’s top academic public high schools. Earlier this month, both schools received Top 25 rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s study, “America’s Best High Schools.”  BASIS Tucson finished ninth overall, while University High School finished 21st.

National notoriety for academic excellence is nothing new on either campus – in fact, Top 25 rankings have become quite common. U.S. News & World Report first recognized both schools as being among the nation’s 25 best for their academic excellence in 2007.

The national attention hasn’t been limited to U.S. News & World Report. In June, both BASIS Tucson and University High School also received Top 25 rankings in Newsweek’s listing of the top 1,500 US public high schools. In addition, BASIS Tucson and Scottsdale’s unique curriculum and the 100-percent acceptance rate for its graduates among four-year universities were profiled in a November, 2009 story on CNN Tonight.

Tammy Jannik, an assistant principal at University High School, said major factors behind the school’s impressive academic success include the overall involvement of the faculty in students’ lives as well as the high level of student involvement in both the fine art and athletic programs.

Another factor is the school’s stringent admission requirements.  Unlike other Tucson Unified School District schools, Jannik said student admission to University High School is based upon a student’s score on the Cognitive Abilities (CogAT) Test or the Ravens Progressive Matrices Test as well as their previous two-semester cumulative grade point average in a series of core subjects including English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

While BASIS Tucson and University High School led the way, 35 other Arizona public and charter high schools were recognized by U.S. News & World Report.  Eight Arizona high schools received silver medals, while 26 schools statewide were awarded bronze medals. Northland Preparatory Academy in Flagstaff received an ‘honorable mention.’

The eight Arizona high schools receiving silver medals included:

• Catalina Foothills High School, Tucson
• Chaparral High School, Scottsdale
• Desert Mountain High School, Scottsdale
• Horizon High School, Scottsdale
• Mountain View High School, Mesa
• Nogales High School, Nogales
• Sonoran Science Academy, Tucson
• Washington High School, Phoenix

The 26 Arizona high schools earning bronze medals included:

• Arizona School for the Arts, Phoenix
• Carpe Diem Academy, Yuma
• Cortez High School, Phoenix
• Desert Vista High School, Phoenix
• Dobson High School, Mesa
• Foothills Academy, Scottsdale
• Greenway High School, Phoenix
• Highland High School, Gilbert
• Independence High School, Glendale
• Joseph City High School, Joseph City
• Mesa High School, Mesa
• Moon Valley High School, Phoenix
• New World Educational Center, Phoenix
• Parker High School, Parker
• Precision Academy, Phoenix
• Red Mountain High School, Mesa
• Rio Rico High School, Rio Rico
• San Manuel High School, San Manuel
• Skyline High School, Mesa
• South Ridge High School, Phoenix
• Sunnyslope High School, Phoenix
• Tempe Preparatory Academy, Tempe
• Thunderbird High School, Phoenix
• Tri-City College Preparatory High School, Prescott
• Veritas Preparatory Academy, Phoenix
• Westwind Preparatory Academy, Phoenix

According to Robert Morse, the article’s author, the study’s methodology developed by School Evaluation Services, “…is based on the key principals that a great high school must serve all its students well, not just those who are college bound, and that it must be able to produce measureable academic outcomes to show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.”

Morse added that 21,786 public high schools in 48 states and the District of Columbia were analyzed (Nebraska and Oklahoma did not provide full data) and that a three-step process was used to determine the best high schools.

“The first two steps ensured that the schools serve all the students well, using state proficiency standards as the Benchmark,” Morse explained in the Dec. 9 article.  “For the schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work.”