Looks Bright: WSJ ranks 5th nationally
Published 12:08 am Saturday, August 29, 2015
- Courtni Becnel and her Biology I class perform an experiment. Pictured, from left, are Becnel, Dejanae Frank, James Simon and Trejah Thomas. Becnel is a former WSJ student.
EDGARD — Every single senior at West St. John High School will finish the academic year in May with acceptance into college or prepared for a technical career.
Spanish teacher Nelann Taylor goes over classroom instruction with students, from left, Erin Borne, Zian Bryant, LaDaja Populis, Toni Bailey, Kidric Gray, Chris Holmes, Jerome Sterling, Jo’Juan Jones and Maya Sanders. (Photo submitted)
That is the school mission statement, and the driving force behind the faculty’s daily approach, principal Claude Hill said.
Community members in greater Edgard aren’t the only people noticing the progress occurring at West St. John.
Newsweek just ranked the St. John the Baptist Parish West Bank school fifth in the nation on its “Beating the Odds 2015” list. The list ranks schools’ success at preparing students for college based on performance while also controlling for student poverty rates, according to the publication.
Newsweek ranked West St. John High School fifth out of 500 schools. The International High School of New Orleans was the only other Louisiana school to the crack the rankings, coming in at 436.
Hill attributes the school’s success preparing students for college to several factors, including direct instruction, small student-to-teacher ratios, data-driven instruction, dual enrollment and career technical classes.
The school’s student-to-teacher ratio is 12:1.
To create its list, Newsweek took into account a school’s performance on state standardized tests, enrollment data, graduation rates, advanced placement, college admission test scores and counselor-to-student ratios.
“The students are putting in the work,” Hill said. “They’re ambitious, they’re hungry and they’re driven.”
Brian Carter, West St. John High vice principal, found out about the ranking Monday via an email from Hill. When Carter saw the email, he said he was ecstatic.
“Our teachers here are very dedicated,” Carter said. “We’ve implemented several ACT programs, we did a lot of extra tutoring and our students are very motivated. That’s the key. If the students are motivated to want to do it, our job becomes much easier.”
According to Newsweek, the school’s student retention rate is 68.8 percent, the composite SAT/ACT score is 27.6, the counselor-student ratio is 1:191 and graduation rate and college bound score are each 100 percent.
“We are proud of our facility, our staff and our students,” Carter said. “Everyone did a tremendous job.”
Carter hopes the students continue their progress and hopes to soon be ranked No. 1 in the country.
“We are going to continue the hard work, and continue to keep our students motivated,” Carter said. “Our students can see that hard work does pay off.”
The vice principal believes this recognition should put West St. John on the map as a top school in the United States.
“We are going to use this ranking to show what public schools can achieve,” Carter said. “We are going to continue to provide the best education we can.”
Hill said he was very proud with the school’s hard work.
“We want to stay on the list and maintain where we are, if not get better,” Hill said. “We are happy to be recognized in Louisiana and nationally by Newsweek. It’s a great accomplishment.”
— By Raquel Derganz Baker
