GHS ranked among ‘Most Challenging’ in the nation

Staff Report

    BANGOR — Six Maine high schools, including Greenville, are ranked among “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” by the Washington Post.
    John Bapst, Yarmouth High School, Bangor High School, Camden Hills Regional High School and Falmouth High School were also on the list which was released on April 7.

    “I am very proud of our staff and students,” Greenville Consolidated School Principal Kelley MacFadyen said. “We are a small rural school with limited resources; however, we work diligently to create a ‘college-going’ culture and maintain a rigorous curriculum.”
    The rankings attempt to reward schools that give students access to college level classes. To determine which schools made the list, Washington Post reporter Jay Matthews said that he divided the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at each school by the number of seniors who graduated in the spring.
    Schools are then ranked based on ratio of graduating seniors to tests administered, Matthews said.
    Only schools that achieved a ratio of one or more, meaning the school administered the same number of tests as there were students who graduated, made the list.
    Greenville High School is the smallest of the six schools by far, but this isn’t the first time they’ve received national attention.
    Greenville High School and Bangor High School were also named to Newsweek’s list of America’s best high schools in 2010. Only four Maine high schools made that list.