Newsweek revamped its criteria to meet the changing times

Newsweek, which has ranked U.S. high schools for more than a decade, revamped its criteria to meet the changing times. Its new criteria ranked schools based on six components: graduation rate, college matriculation rate, Advanced Placement tests taken per graduate, average SAT/ACT scores, average AP/lB scores and AP courses offered per graduate.

Olmsted Falls is credited in the listing as having 19.1 students/teacher ratio, 98-percent graduation rate, 1.0 AP/lB tests, 89-percent of the students head to college and a 1,668 average SAT score.

Superintendent Todd F. Hoadley said he believed this was the first time Olmsted Falls was named to the list. He said a major reason for this honor goes to the high school’s faculty, staff and administration.

“They worked really hard over the last several years on trying to update curriculum and put in place the structure of AP and honors classes and work with parents to encourage their children to take these classes,” Hoadley said.

“By scoring four and five on the AP tests, our students can exempt out of college classes, which can be a real monetary savings to parents,” Hoadley said. “We are very proud to be named to the list.”

Other Greater Cleveland high schools named include Chagrin Falls, 92; Solon, 113; Avon Lake, 418 and Mayfield, 455. Ohio had 19 high school on the magazine’s list.

The magazine asked several experts to develop the new criteria that reflects a school’s success turning out college- and life-ready students.