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U.S. News & World Reports has awarded Westlake Academy with the Gold Medal award, ranking the school #37 in nation, #5 in Texas, and #6 in national charter schools out of more than 22,000 public high schools evaluated in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
“Westlake Academy is thrilled to receive such top rankings in the nation, in Texas, and among our fellow charter schools,” said Tom Brymer, Superintendent, Westlake Academy. “The students at Westlake Academy consistently go the extra mile with amazing results, thought processes and creativity, and ultimately, the desire to make the world a better place. The goal of our staff is and will always be to make them think and help them understand, while inspiring and encouraging them to excel in their studies, reaching their highest potential.”
How other area schools fared:
Westlake Academy: #37 National, #5 Texas
Coppell: #332, #28
Colleyville Heritage: #417, #37
Grapevine: #529, #47
Southlake Carroll: #542, #48
To produce the 2012 U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research (AIR), one of the largest behavioral and social science research organizations in the world. Rankings are based on the key principles that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are college-bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.
Schools were awarded gold, silver, or bronze medals based on state proficiency standards, how well they prepare students for college, and other factors.
To be eligible for a state ranking, a school must be awarded a national gold or silver medal. There are more than 400 Texas schools in the U.S. News Best High Schools 2012 rankings, including 46 with gold medals, 123 with silver medals, and 233 with bronze medals.
The mission of Westlake Academy, a community owned International Baccalaureate (IB) public charter school, serving grades K-12, is to provide students with an internationally minded education of the highest quality, so they are well-balanced and respectful life-long learners. Students are encouraged to achieve individual academic excellence while becoming active, compassionate and lifelong learners. By promoting independent thinkers, the IB curriculum helps students see how the world around them works, preparing them to become active participants as well as agents of positive change.
“Our IB Curriculum has proven to be challenging to our students, making them well rounded young men and women,” added Brymer. “Our students leave Westlake Academy with a deeper understanding of the world around them and a desire to be a difference maker.”
Westlake Academy will hold its third graduation ceremony on June 2, at Hurst Conference Center, at 2 p.m. with special guest speaker Matthew Rose, chairman and CEO, BNSF. Of the 28 graduates, 51 percent have been accepted into their top choice school and 15 percent were accepted into highly selective universities with a total to date of over $3.5 million in scholarships and grants.
College acceptances include Washington University in St. Louis, University of Texas at Austin-McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin-Plan II Honors Program, University of Oklahoma-Mewbourne School of Petroleum & Geological Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas – UT-PACT Program, Texas A&M University-Mays Business Honors Program, TCU – John V. Roach Honors College, SMU-Dedman School of Life Sciences, Boston University, NYU, University of Miami, and University of California at Berkley. Additionally the graduating class has three National Merit Commended Scholars.
“We absolutely feel that our students are very prepared for college and commend them on a job well done during their years with us at Westlake Academy,” added Brymer. “It has been a thrill to watch them grow, and we anticipate great things from each of them in the future.”