Buckeye Valley High School was recently ranked in the 20% of Ohio high schools and the top 26% of high schools nationally by U.S. News and World Report, and Principal Brian Baker said he’s confident the rating will only improve.
U.S. News and World Report released its regular rating and ranking of schools in the United States, and Buckeye Valley High school was ranked 175th out of the 872 Ohio high schools and 4,797th out of the 17,857 high schools in the nation that were included in the rankings.
The report states that 32% of BVHS students took at least one Advanced Placement (AP) exam, and 21% passed at least one AP exam. The report states that the math proficiency at Buckeye Valley is 67%, and the reading proficiency is 80%. The graduation rate is 96%.
Baker said Thursday he’s happy with the rating, but he’s already focused on the future.
“We found out the news, it’s a measure that is looking a lot at the academics and I’m very pleased,” Baker said. “I’m very pleased with this staff but always knowing we could have a continuous movement mindset. (I’m) happy with it, but we always want to look to continue to get better.”
The data for the report was from the 2018-2019 school year. Baker said improvements have already been made to the school since the 2018-2019 school year, including last year’s increased focus on “the whole student.”
“Very proud to say that since a lot of this data came out a couple years ago, we have worked really hard for the past year on our district strategic plan,” Baker said. “That has really driven a lot of increased academic supports and increased social emotional supports. With those things in place, it’ll raise all ships.”
Baker added this is his first year at Buckeye Valley High School after serving as the principal at Buckeye Valley Middle School for six years, and he thinks the high school is in a good position and will continue to improve in coming years.
“I just couldn’t be more happy with the staff here that we work with,” Baker said. “I already have a lot of relationships. (I’m) very pleased. It’s a great place to be. I’m very optimistic. (Our) strategic plan has really centered us as a district and allowed us to be intentional for the supports that we’re putting in place, K-12.”
Baker said he’s happy for the feedback from the report, and he’s confident in the school because the staff is focused on supporting students.
“Whatever report card is out there, I’m confident we’ll score well because we’re focused on the right things,” Baker said. “It makes us reflect upon the rigor of what we want to offer our kids. Keep our standards high, but continually find ways to support the kids, especially through the pandemic and the hard time everybody is going through.”
Baker said he thinks the school is in a good position, and he was happy to hear the school ranked so high nationally as well as in the state.
“I think we offer a pretty good value here at BV,” he said. “I think we offer pretty good bang for your buck, so to be in the top 25% as a public school, we’re very proud of. We’re really trying to focus on what core things are super important for our kids and let that raise everything.”
Baker said Delaware County generally did well on the assessment, and he’s proud of the other high schools as well.
“I speak with other principals in the county, so we’ve got a nice collaboration going,” Baker said. “It’s a very strong county, and it keeps us on our toes in a good way. … We really try and take that team approach.”
More information about the ratings can be found at usnews.com/education/best-high-schools.
