Revere climbs in U.S. News rankings

by Sheldon Ocker

Sept. 15 board of education meeting

Being ranked 745th wouldn’t usually elicit wild applause. But a high school with that ranking among almost 18,000 schools nationally is a different matter.

So the Revere Board of Education received good news when Principal Doug Faris announced that Revere High improved its ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of high schools from 1,125th to 745th, placing the school in the top 4.15% nationally.

Faris went on to tell the board that Revere High’s state ranking rose from 42nd to 25th (among 607 districts) and remained third in the metro Akron area.

Hudson is the top-ranked Akron-area high school, and Aurora is second.

Faris explained that the U.S. News rankings rely heavily on state-tested subjects and Advanced Placement exam scores. Also, the magazine uses data that is two years behind.

AP courses were an important part of Faris’ presentation. The percentage of Revere students taking at least one AP course rose from 59% to 68% the past two school years.

Over that span, students who achieved math proficiency went up from 78% to 82%; those achieving reading proficiency improved from 89% to 91%; students who reached science proficiency rose from 83% to 91%.

Among students who took at least one AP exam, 243 (91.7%) scored 3 or better (out of 5), compared to 219 the previous year. A score of 3 can earn college credit at many universities.

“That is absolutely extraordinary,” Faris said.

Revere also offers a College Credit Plus program, where students take courses at partner universities, another way – in addition to AP coursework – to earn college credit in high school.

In explaining why some students choose AP courses and others pick a CCP path, board president Kasha Brackett said, “People take CCP not just for the diversity of courses you can take, but to try and get some of that college credit before they hit the front door of their college and have to pay for that credit. A 3-plus [on an AP exam] gets that college credit in more places than even CCP will.”

Another win

Superintendent Dan White revealed that Revere earned an overall 5 – the top rating – on the annual state report card.

“We have a number of things to be excited about,” he said. “We are a 5-star district again.”

White also announced that Revere’s Performance Index rose from 101.2 in 2021 to 106.8 this year. The Performance Index is uniquely important to educators and measures students’ performance on state tests.

The board approved:

• The annual transfer of $75,000 to the Turf Fund, which is used to periodically resurface the football field and the track.
• A $400 donation from Klein’s Pharmacy to Revere’s Model U.N. program and a $5,000 contribution from an anonymous donor through the Akron Community Foundation to the Revere Schools’ Power of Teaching Grant. Individual teachers can submit proposals for projects to earn a share of the money.