By Danny Edman ’16, Staff Writer

Jay Mathews’ list titled “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” was published in the Washington Post on April 12, 2013.  On this list, Newark Academy ranked 5th nationally among other private schools and 1st in New Jersey among both public and private schools.  Other private schools in the area on the list were Pingry and Montclair Kimberly Academy, which ranked 13^th and 42^nd, respectively, among other independent schools in the nation. Students and parents at the Academy were generally pleased and surprised by this set of rankings.  A Newark Academy parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, expressed her excitement when she said, “I hope colleges look at this and see the hard work Newark Academy kids put into school everyday.”  Aidan Fox, a ninth grade student added , “I was surprised when I heard that Newark Academy was 5^th because I have always heard that Pingry is a more challenging school.”

Along with his list, Mathews included an explanation of his methodology.  He determined his rankings by dividing the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) exams at each school by the number of graduating seniors.  The result of this ratio is called the “Challenge Index.”   Unlike other rankings, Mathews did not take into account how the students actually performed on these tests. Newark Academy’s Challenge Index this year was 6.483.  The highest ranked school in the country was the American Indian Public Center in California, which had a Challenge Index of 23.571. Mr. Stourton, the head of the IB program at Newark Academy, expressed some disagreement with Mathews’ methodology calling it, “rather peculiar because some schools sign students up for exams they don’t have any chance of passing.”

In addition to Mathews’ usage of the “Challenge Index,” the rankings omitted top magnet and charter high schools. According to the Washington Post, Mathews felt that it was not fair to include such schools because of their ability to select a high concentration of top students.  Thus, any charter or magnet schools, whose average SAT or ACT score was greater than the highest national average for any normal-enrollment school in the country, was not given a Challenge Index score. Instead, these schools were recognized on a completely separate list for “Public Elite” schools.  Students, parents, and faculty at Newark Academy generally are unaware about this separate list, which excluded many challenging schools across the United States.

Mathews first included independent schools, like the Academy, on his list in 2012. Unlike public schools, private schools have no obligation to disseminate the information that he needs to compile his list.   In 2012 Mathews contacted about 200 private schools across the U.S., but only 30 of them were willing to share their data. Similarly, in 2013 only 56 private schools were willing to give up this information.  Moreover, with private schools, Mathews conceded that he broke his own rule and included the private schools on the national list even if they had an average SAT or ACT score greater than the national average.  This meant that private schools were included in the rankings, while elite public schools were not.  On a separate list of all of the high schools in the country, private and public, which were included on Mathews’s list, Newark Academy was ranked 55th.

After hearing how high Newark Academy ranked, most students and faculty members were very proud of themselves and the school. Abby Whelan ’14, a candidate for the IB Diploma, said, “I think it reflects very well on the Academy. It is great that we were able to achieve such a high level of success.” While Mr. Stourton was intrigued by the methodology behind the rankings, he had no problem acknowledging that Newark Academy is a very challenging school. As he proudly said, “Ninety to ninety-five percent of seniors take at least one IB exam in a class they are very qualified for.” Similarly Jake Furst, a freshman, expressed the satisfaction that a lot of other students felt when he noted, “I am proud of myself knowing that I am doing well at a school that has been recognized for its difficult curriculum.”

Despite some flaws in Mathew’s strategy, Newark Academy should nonetheless celebrate the successes achieved by our students and faculty, which has been now recognized nationally.