Westlake Academy (WA) hasbra new reason to celebrate: U.S. News andbrWorld Report ranked the school as one of the best high schools for 2016, nationally ranked at No. 58, No. 9 in Texas and No. 17 in charter schoolsbrnationwide. Westlake Academy continues to make The Washington Post MostbrChallenging High School list at No. 32 in the nation, rising four places forbr2016. National rankings for Newsweekhave not been released yet.
In addition, WestlakebrAcademy students are excelling on state-mandated assessments. The TexasbrEducation Agency awarded Westlake Academy seven Academic Distinction Designationsbrbased upon Westlake Academy's 2014-2015 STAAR/EOC performance scores. Furthermore,brWestlake Academy's 2015 Texas Performance Reporting System Report concludedbrthat:
96 percent of WA studentsbrmet state Level II Satisfactory performance standards on all tests taken
98 percent of studentsbrmet the state Level II Satisfactory performance standard in reading
94 percent of studentsbrmet the standard in math
94 percent of studentsbrmet the standard in writing
94 percent of studentsbrmet the standard in science
99 percent ofbrstudents met the standard in social studies (humanities)
Mechelle Bryson, executivebrprincipal/director of education, said the high level of achievement recorded bybrWestlake Academy students on state-mandated assessments is indicative of thebrwork that WA teachers and administrators have done on aligning thebrwritten, taught and assessed curriculum over the past few years. She said thebrhigh achievement is also due to the work that Westlake Academy teachers andbradministrators have done on improving the collective instructional pedagogy ofbreach member of the Westlake Academy staff.
“Our greater aim has beenbrto build a school culture where educators use data continuously, collaborativelybrand effectively to improve teaching and learning,” Bryson said in a pressbrrelease.
The executivebrprincipal/director of education said this “work in progress” on the WestlakebrAcademy school culture shows the Academy is rapidly approaching what MalcolmbrGladwell, speaker/bestselling author, described as the “Tipping Point ... thatbrmagic moment when an idea, order trend or social behavior crosses thebrthreshold, tips and spreads like wildfire.”
“We will achieve thatbrtipping point and continue to permeate our school culture with teaching andbrlearning that always improves and expands,” Bryson said. “We will become thebrbest place for teachers to teach and for students to learn.”