HARVARD — Add another honor to the Bromfield trophy case. On Monday evening, Superintendent of Schools Thomas Jefferson announced the school has ranked 87th amongst 21,000 public high schools reviewed nation-wide by U.S. News & World Report magazine. The report is included most recent edition of the magazine, on stands now.
The Bromfield School was the only Massachusetts open enrollment public school in the top 100 “Gold Medal” listings. Boston Latin School ranked higher though the school’s admissions are merit-based and not purely open enrollment. The top 100 is based on the magazine’s own “College Readiness Index” metric.
Save for Bromfield and Boston Latin School, there is no other Bay State high school listed on the top 100.
Of the 68 percent that take college readiness exams and some 94 percent of the participants pass. On Advanced Placement courses, there’s a 69 percent student participation rate, of which 94 percent receive passing grades.
Jefferson said it’s a “pretty impressive award when you look at the components of it” adding “we’re the only school without an entrance exam” placing in the top 100 for Massachusetts. There are no Connecticut schools on the list, Jefferson noted, always mindful of the state from which he worked for many years as a teacher and administrator.
Jefferson said most of the schools on the list were charter and specialty, not public, schools. “We were one of 20 to 30 public schools taking ‘all-comers,'” he said.
The superintendent said the honor came as a surprise and that it’s one that no one applies for.
“I really want to congratulate a lot of people,” said Jefferson. He praised the students and educators for their “culture of excellence and commitment” and “a lot of community support throughout the years” He said is a district accomplishment and cited the district’s “tremendous foundation at the elementary level.” Jefferson also praised the “leadership of the school committee throughout the years.”
Chairman Keith Cheveralls offered “congratulations to everybody. This is a fabulous way to end the year.”
Details on the magazine rankings can be found at the magazine’s Web site www.usnews.com.
