Hollis/Brookline New Hampshire
Newsweek's Best Schools in NH
Recently Newsweek Magazine ranked the top public U.S. High Schools based upon the number of challenging courses the students take at each particular school. Reporter Jay Matthews then came up with a list of the top 1258 schools across the country. New England had a mere 12 public schools listed, but three of those (a full 25%) were in the state of New Hampshire.
Surprisingly (or perhaps not), the top-rated school in the Granite State winds up being the Hollis/Brookline High School, located in the beautiful town of Hollis, NH. Hollis/Brookline was ranked 937th, closely followed by Moultonborough at 1055th and Contoocook in Hopkinton at 1213th.
In order to create his “Challenge Index”, Matthews said he “took the total number of Advanced Placement (AP) tests (later adding International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests) taken each year and divided by the number of graduating seniors, so that big schools would not have an advantage over small schools.”
He continues on to say, “Test scores, the usual way of rating schools, are in nearly every case a measure of parental wealth and education, not good teaching. Every study shows that if your parents fill their house with books, include you in conversations and take you to plays and museums, you tend to score well on standardized tests, even if your school is not the best.”
His “Challenge Index” was designed to show which public schools were offered the most demanding courses yet were the most supportive of the students. Hollis/Brookline Principal Tim Kelley says he is proud of his students and his teaching staff at the school. He went on to say that while using the number of AP courses a school offers as a measuring stick of the school’s quality may be considered “flimsy”, he does not think the school is unworthy of the recognition.
Last year 29 seniors scored perfect on their AP tests and seven had perfect SAT scores. Students at Hollis/Brookline are impressed with the acknowledgement.
Steve Spader, a freshman at the school called the ranking “pretty cool” and intends to take advantage of the AP courses offered to him.
Another student, Robert Magee, said, “Being out in the middle of nowhere you wouldn’t think we’d be so good, but we’re famous.”
Alicia Smith, a Hollis/Brookline junior, said the ranking was pretty rewarding. “Our AP courses feel like college courses.”
Hollis and Brookline, New Hampshire are located in Hillsborough Country in the southern-central part of the state. Newsweek Magazine’s “Top U.S. Public Schools” ranking has been published annually since 1998.
Jim Miller is a full time full service licensed Realtor® in the Southern New Hampshire area with Bean Group and has many years of experience buying and selling New Hampshire Real Estate
Contact Jim direct at 603-801-3987
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