EDGARD — The St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District has declared the week of Sept. 14 as Ram Week in recognition of West St. John High School’s achievements.

West St. John High School was recently ranked by Newsweek as fifth out of 500 schools across the nation on the publication’s 2015 Beating the Odds list, which recognizes schools that are closing the achievement gap.

West St. John High School students will be recognized at the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at West St. John Elementary School, 2555 Louisiana 18 in Edgard. The School Board will also adopt a resolution declaring the week as Ram Week and recognizing West St. John High School at the meeting.

This is the second year in a row that West St. John High School has been recognized by Newsweek. In 2014, it was ranked as the 50^th school on the Beating the Odds list.

To rank the schools, Newsweek took into account such factors as the schools’ performance on state standardized tests, enrollment data, graduation rates, advanced placement and college admission test scores and counselor-to-student ratios.

West St. John High School also received the Gold Star designation, which recognized schools where economically disadvantaged students performed better than the state average for all students in reading and mathematics.