5 Pr. George's Schools Make National 'Top' List

3 Secure First Appearance on Newsweek Ranking for Challenging Courses

Newsweek magazine has named five Prince George's County schools to its list of "America's Top Public High Schools."

The schools that made the annual list were Bowie High in Bowie, Charles H. Flowers High in Springdale, Eleanor Roosevelt High in Greenbelt, High Point High in Beltsville and Oxon Hill High in Oxon Hill. They were among 1,500 honored, out of the roughly 27,000 public high schools nationwide, for the extent to which they challenge students to take advanced courses.

Roosevelt, which for years has been considered one of the best high schools in the state, ranked 372nd, up from 519th last year. Oxon Hill came in at No. 918, up from 1,002. High Point took the 961st spot, Bowie the 1,307th, and Flowers rounded out the local list at 1,445th. Only Roosevelt and Oxon Hill made the list last year, when it included 1,300 schools.

Roosevelt, Oxon Hill and Flowers enroll hundreds of students each year in the county's highly competitive science and technology program, boosting their numbers of high-achieving students. Eighty-three Maryland public high schools were named to this year's list.

Reginald McNeill, principal at Roosevelt, said the students and faculty at his school were ecstatic to be recognized for their hard work again. He said that having five Prince George's schools named to the list affirms that the county's students are becoming more willing to take advanced courses and that staff and faculty members are preparing them to succeed in the more rigorous courses.

"The county is committed to increasing the rigor in all schools," McNeill said. Advanced Placement courses "give students an opportunity to earn college credit but also prove that they can succeed at a higher level. It is a win-win for the students and the school."

Oxon Hill Principal Deborah Franklin said she made a school-wide announcement to notify students and faculty that the school had been honored for the second year in a row. Franklin also had an announcement posted on the school's Web site and sent a letter home to parents "to congratulate both the students and the parents on their success."

"We're excited," she said. "We're having a banner made to post in front of the school so that the incoming ninth-graders will know our achievements. It will help to boost both school pride as well as community pride. Our parents have high expectations for our students, and this is validation of the work that our teachers are doing."

The Newsweek designation is considered a feather in a school's cap, and having five schools named is an honor for the county, McNeill and Franklin said. Newsweek is owned by The Washington Post Co.

According to Newsweek's Web site, the public schools were ranked largely based on the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors.

The news was the latest of several positive reports for Prince George's schools. Each of the high schools named to the Newsweek list also met federal benchmarks for adequate yearly progress in achievement last year. And the county's high school students made strides in passing the state's High School Assessment exams at higher rates than initially expected, authorities said.

Late last year, the Maryland State Department of Education announced that Prince George's students had made significant progress on state tests for the first time since 2003. Poor performance had led the state to place the county on a watch list for struggling school systems, but state officials said Prince George's will be removed if tests improve for a second year.

The county's schools also face some challenges. County government officials have been seeking to provide the schools with $23.6 million less than the law requires. The State Board of Education denied a county request to approve the lower amount, and the county asked a court last week to overturn that decision. Educators have said that the loss of the funds would be devastating.