All week long the local press was inundated with stories regarding
Business First's annual school district rankings. It was a lead-in to
the issuance of their 120 page Guide To Western New York Schools which
offers detailed analyses for each and every district. I received a copy
in today's mail.
Here's how our school stands in regard to some of the various criteria...
Rank: 60 out of 98 districts, up from 70th place last year.
Local comparison: Roy-Hart is ranked 7th among 10 Niagara County school districts. The report best compares us to Newfane, Perry, and Alexander among WNY schools.
In English we were in 70th place.
In Math we came in at 52nd.
We were 69th in science.
Here's how our school stands in regard to some of the various criteria...
Rank: 60 out of 98 districts, up from 70th place last year.
Local comparison: Roy-Hart is ranked 7th among 10 Niagara County school districts. The report best compares us to Newfane, Perry, and Alexander among WNY schools.
In English we were in 70th place.
In Math we came in at 52nd.
We were 69th in science.
Some of the supplemental info they provided....
Our school district came in at 95th place on the achievement index. This means that our students perform worse than what the community's socioeconomic profile predicts
We are the 11th-most cost-effective district in WNY.
Spending per pupil is $15,390.
Administrative efficiency is 11th best and teacher experience came in at 53rd.
What does this all mean? It depends on your perspective.
The report does not detail how well we prepare students for the working world through integration with BOCES.
It doesn't say that almost 9% of last year's graduates were prepared for the military, which might be at the top of WNY -- compare that stat to Williamsville where less than 0.9% chose to serve the country.
The report doesn't mention the quality of life and career-preparedness that is unique to a really small school.
Frankly, I don't feel cheated having gone to Roy-Hart and I don't feel that I'm cheating my kids with Roy-Hart. I was prepared for the world and I know my kids will be -- every administrator, teacher, and staff member I've met has been awesome.
Roy-Hart might be 60th in the report. But, it's #1 in my heart.
So, I'd like to temper the Business First report with my speech from the 2016 commencement at Roy-Hart. It looks at the super powers gleaned by living in and being educated by a small school district. If you missed that speech, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDQJQMscwQk
