Woodstock, Etowah Are Two Of America's Best High Schools

Four Cherokee County School District high schools have been named to the 2014 “Best High Schools” in the U.S. list published by U.S. News & World Report.

Of the country's 31,242 public high schools, Sequoyah High School was ranked 919 (26th in Georgia); Etowah, 1,134 (32nd); Woodstock, 1,215 (35th); and Cherokee, 1,391 (37th).  

All four schools received the Silver Medal; only the top 2,000 schools in the country received Gold or Silver designations.

The rankings factor in performance during the 2011-12 school year on standardized reading and math test results by all students and by economically disadvantaged students and participation in Advanced Placement testing and passage of those tests.  

Creekview High School was not eligible for ranking due to its lower population of economically disadvantaged students and River Ridge High School was ineligible because it did not have a senior class in 2011-12.    

While Sequoyah has been named to the U.S. News & World Report list for many years, this is the first time four district high schools have been ranked. 

"It’s an outstanding accomplishment for all of our eligible high schools to be named to an internationally-renowned list of best high schools, and a milestone that the entire community should celebrate," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo said. "It’s important to note that this ranking factors in not only State test scores, but also the success of at-risk students and the passage rates on National AP exams. These rankings are further evidence of the high quality of our public schools and educators and an indicator of the future success our students will achieve in higher education and their careers."

Cherokee is led by principal Debra Murdock while Keith Ball serves as the principal at Etowah. Elliott Berman is at the helm at Sequoyah and Woodstock is led by principal Dr. Paul Weir.

This news follows the announcement earlier this month that three district high schools — Creekview, Etowah and Sequoyah — were named to the America's Most Challenging High Schools list published by the Washington Post. That list ranks schools based on factors including the percentage of graduating seniors who take AP tests.

For more information about the list, please see the magazine’s website.