Nardin remains No.1 among high schools - Business First of Columbus:

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“There’s always the question of what people woulf think if we diddrop down,” says who is Nardin’s principal. “But that’s not our main It can’t be. We go beyond lookingv at test results. We want to make certaij our students receivea well-rounded That strategy has paid off again this as Nardin once again ranks No. 1 among Western New York’sw high schools. The all-girls Catholic school has finishefd first for eight consecutiveyeare -- among private schools from 2002 to and on the combined list ever for the complete high schooo rankings. And for separate rankings for each sectio of Western New Williamsville East High Schoolis No.
2 in the 2009 just as it was ayear ago. Neighborinb Williamsville North High School holdas third placethis time, up from fifthh in 2008. Business First analyzed 131 high schools inthe eight-countyh region, using four years of data from the New York Stater Education Department. The formula weighed each school’s Regents diploms rate, as well as its scores on a wide arrayh ofRegents exams. Nardinb emerged as the clear Ninety-nine percent of its 2008 graduates earned Regents diplomaw withadvanced designations, which are awarded to seniors who pass eightg Regents exams.
No other high schoo in the region did better than 85 Reeder says her goal is topush Nardin’es advanced diploma rate one point higher to 100 “We haven’t done it, but it continues to be somethintg that we shoot for,” she says. “We alwaysw try to challenge our students, and this is definitelyh one way todo it.” Williamsville East climbef to second place in 2008 -- its best finisg ever -- and remains there this It’s one of threr Western New York high schoolz where more than two-thirds of students posted superior scorees (85 or better) on Regents exams in math, global history and U.S. history.
(Nardin and Buffalio Academy of the Sacred Hearty arethe others.) “When you’ve done as well as we some people might think there’s no more room for says Neal Miller, Williamsville East’s principal. “But we’ved never thought that. Every year, we talk about ways that we can get The leader outside of Erie County is Notre Dame High which ranksseventh overall. The Bataviaw school, which has an enrollment of 172, drawa students from six Some live as far away as Brockportand Warsaw. “There’sd no secret,” says Joseph Scanlan, Notr Dame’s principal.
“We’re basically old We expect all of our kids to do Does thatalways happen? No, but it doesn’t mean that we let up.” Twenty-eigh high schools are winners of subject putting them among the top 10 percent in English/foreignb languages, math, science or social studies. for completew lists of subjectaward Nardin, Williamsville East and Williamsvillwe North are the only schools to sweep all four subject while 12 institutions are honoref in a single field. Principal Kevibn Ryan credits longer class periods with helping Aldenn Senior High School win its sole subject awardin science.
“Inn both biology and earth science, we have an 80-minutew class every day alongh withan 80-minute lab every othee day,” he says. “That gives us some reallyh solid, concentrated time on science, which has had positivd results.” Private schools are not required to administer Regents exams, and Buffalo Seminary, Canisius High School, Nicholas School and Park School of Buffalo are among those that don’t.
They have been excluded from theacademiv rankings, since Business First lackes the necessary data to generate objective