posted by Joe Polk at 4:18 PM /
Newsweek has named nine public high schools in Allegheny County as among the top 6 percent of high schools nationwide.
The annual list of schools, with their rank, includes Upper St. Clair, 905; Quaker Valley, 994; Pine-Richland, 1,020; Hampton, 1,183; North Hills, 1,331; Pittsburgh Allderdice, 1,538; South Fayette, 1,543; North Allegheny, 1,556; and Mt. Lebanon, 1,564.
Read more: www.post-gazette.com/pg/10165/1065549-455.stm
The annual list of schools, with their rank, includes Upper St. Clair, 905; Quaker Valley, 994; Pine-Richland, 1,020; Hampton, 1,183; North Hills, 1,331; Pittsburgh Allderdice, 1,538; South Fayette, 1,543; North Allegheny, 1,556; and Mt. Lebanon, 1,564.
Read more: www.post-gazette.com/pg/10165/1065549-455.stm
Labels: newsweek
10 Comments:
I'm sure that once we have a new, $113,000,000 building the district will sky-rocket up the tankings.
Joe Wertheim
Well Joe,
The District may not skyrocket up the ranking,but maybe improve a few ranking positions....then they can claim (rationalize)that they are less non-performing, relative to their local competition named in the posting, than previously.
They could also rightly claim that the outstanding non-electoral debt of Lebo would be the highest of any non-urban public school district in all of PA....A #1 ranking worthy of note by any and all prospective newcomers to the Pittsburgh and south hills area.
As a proud Blue Devil alumni, I continue to follow what's going on with my beloved alma mater even though I've been living in the Northern VA area for almost 18 years. So, Mt. Lebanon placed 1,564 on Newsweek annual top high schools list. The high school that my son will go to placed 274. Both schools were built around the same time period, and both are in extremely bad shape & in need of major renovations. Just makes a person wonder...does a new, renovated school make for a better educational experience, or do the programs? Seeing the conditions of the schools side-by-side on par with each other, yet seeing such a huge gap in rankings would make me a very disappointed parent if we were in the Mt. Lebanon school district.
Just a reminder, folks: We generally don't publish anonymous comments on Blog-Lebo. If you have something to say, please don't forget to sign your name to your words. —Tom
@Nikki Topa, next time you are in town, see if you can get a tour of the high school. You will be surprised to see that it is not in extremely bad shape. That is the problem. It is the people who are calling us the fear mongers that are saying it is in extremely bad shape. In fact tonight, at the school board meeting, I was accused of fear mongering saying that the Galleria theater was closing when in fact, they were just negotiating a better rent. I think the credit of fear mongering should go to Blog Lebo for posting the Post Gazette article. And don't forget, the Post Gazette, those big, bad fear mongers for reporting such things. What were we all thinking? Here, Rob Gardner knew all along. Well, thanks for reading my comment, Rob. It is nice to know you follow Blog Lebo to get your material for school board meetings.
http://bloglebo.blogspot.com/2010/05/mt-lebanons-galleria-mall-theater-to.html#comments
Elaine Gillen
Mt. Lebanon's standing in this poll is dismal. Granted I do understand the weaknesses in the Newsweek rankings, but I also see a school that clearly does a great job for a select number of kids at the top but has a large contingent in the middle have been presented with a much lower set of expectations.
The struggle that I see is that there is such a focus on sports from the parents that clearly academics become a second priority. (Perhaps actually a third priority behind popularity for your kids if you live in the Markham area.)
So, while all of the "true Mt. Lebanon" people can continue to think their school is second to none, very public polls based on hard data will continue to let people know this is not true. Can a child get a good education in Mt. Lebanon? Absolutely. Is it second to none? Heck no!
I was stunned to see that my alma mater, Blackhawk HS in nearby Beaver County, was ranked higher (#857) than MLHS. When I graduated in 1975, the building was brand new and the academic experience was dismal. Looks as though things have changed. Hmmm... a reasonable cost of living (especially important for a single parent like me) and a better (?) school. Where did I put that real estate agent's number?
"There is such a focus on athletics that academics become a second priority." I don't know if there's ever been anything written on this Blog that has offended me so much.
I'll refrain from directing you to the hundreds of studies that link high school athletics to better grades, improved maturity, a greater likelihood of attending college, etc. I'll also refrain from going into detail about the fact that student athletes in Mt. Lebanon averaged a non-weighted QPA of 3.3 and every one of our high school teams averaged at least a non-weighted QPA of 3.0. I'll also won't bother to list all of the student athletes who were recognized as Academic All-Americans this season or those who have received All-State Academic Honors (but you can find them on the District's website if you're interested).
I will, however, share with you a story from my own family. My 8 year old son plays every sport imaginable and completely ignores the TV, video games, etc. He absolutely idolizes Luke Hagy. Luke is a celebrated student-athlete at Mt. Lebanon High School, who has accomplished the rare feat of starting for the football, basketball and baseball teams all in the same season. My son dreams of being Luke Hagy. And if you ask my son what makes Luke so cool, he'll quickly tell you that his 4.0 GPA is pretty high on the list.
Mr. Andersen, we may not do everything right in this town, and there are a few things that we probably do horribly wrong. But make no mistake about it, this town's love affair with sports and recreation and our school district's commitment to balancing academics with athletics are not only second-to-none, but they are what makes our community one of the area's best places to live and raise a family.
Here is a link to a Mother Elaine Gillen’s view of Mt. Lebanon’s implementation of our Strategic Plan:
http://www.lebocitizens.com/Lebo_Citizens/Home.html
The information presented by the Mother, Elaine Gillen was taken from the District’s own website. Read the link for yourself and see why Mt. Lebanon’s academic ranking is slipping.
The Superintendent refused to accept responsibility for a lack of accountability of administrators and educators who failed to implement the Plan in a timely fashion. The Board held no one accountable for achieving only seven of 22 Strategic Plan Goals in a five-year period.
I have to say that I agree with Dave Franklin. Our school, like Mt. Lebanon, is very competitive in athletics, as well as its other competition programs (i.e. dance, band, etc). I have always believed that the athletic competition carries through to the academic competition of students performing well (not to mention that most athletes must maintain their grades in order to play). I have a deep appreciation for the athletic programs that these schools provide for their students...it is proven that they perform better academically, as well as keeps the kids too busy to get into trouble. I do believe, however, that Mt. Lebanon needs to take a deep, hard look at why they are not even breaking the top 1,000 - especially considering the 10.5% increase in school taxes. I can definitely tell you that it has absolutely nothing to do with whether they have $113 million in renovations or not.
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