For the third consecutive year, Perry High School has been named a Bronze Medalist for the state of Iowa in the U.S. News and World Report “Best High Schools in America” rankings. The honor is the fourth time in five years PHS has been recognized in the rankings.
“We are very pleased with this honor,” said. “It’s a testament to our staff but most especially our students.”
“We do not always get a lot of credit for what we do,” said PHS Principal Dan Marburger in a message to faculty and staff, “but thanks for all of your hard work in getting students to graduate and perform at the levels they do. We have many challenges, and I know how hard you work in trying to meet them. Great job again.”
While Perry has struggled to score well under certain State of Iowa guidelines, those used by U.S. News and World Report place the school much higher by factoring in native language and family income. These are different ways to judge the success of individual schools.
U.S. News and World Report conducts their rankings in conjunction with RTI International, a global not-for-profit social science research firm based in North Carolina. A total of 20,487 public high schools were studied in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. The top 500 received gold medals, with 2,109 schools awarded silver medals and 3,432 bronze medals, the latter of which classifies a school among the top 18 percent nationwide. A total of 14,446 schools did not receive a medal.
Earning medal status requires a school to pass a three-step evaluation, after which a fourth step is used to assess medal position.
Many Iowa schools made the 2017 rankings, including 12 silver medal schools and 112 bronze medal schools. The top 10 high schools in the state, according to the magazine, were:
- Decorah High School, Decorah
- John F. Kennedy High School, Cedar Rapids
- Linn-Mar High School, Marion
- Ames High School, Ames
- West Liberty High School, West Liberty
- George Washington High School, Cedar Rapids
- Valley High School, West Des Moines
- Waukee Senior High School, Waukee
- Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls
- Ankeny Centennial High School, Ankeny
“This honor shows how hard our students are working,” Marburger said. “We ask them to give us the best effort they can and tell them we’ll do all we can to help them do so. Almost all of them try their best, and it is reflected back upon us when we receive this kind of recognition.”
