Published: January 09, 2009 01:09 am      

EFHS receives ‘real tribute’

Attains bronze medal in U.S. News and World Report survey

FAIRMONT — East Fairmont High School can add one more accolade to its resume: U.S. News and World Report magazine recently labeled EFHS as a bronze medal school.

EFHS principal David Nuzum said he was surprised and very honored by the designation.

It’s not something the school applied for but was very happy to receive nonetheless, Nuzum said.

He found out about the distinction when a teacher reading the magazine online looked at the list. When he saw EFHS, he promptly sent an e-mail with a link to Nuzum.

“It’s wonderful to have national recognition for what we do,” Nuzum said. “We’re very honored and pleased. It’s a real tribute to the work the staff and students have been doing.”

Each year, U.S. News and World Report evaluates high schools all over the nation and comes up with a list of the best. The top 100 schools received gold medal status, 504 received silver medal status and another 1,321 were named bronze. Another 17 high schools received honorable mention.

This year, the magazine started with 21,069 schools in 48 states. According to the magazine, schools in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Washington D.C., didn’t make enough data available, so they weren’t included.

Basically, the magazine starts with the reading and math scores for each high school. Those come from standardized testing, like West Virginia’s WESTEST, each year.

Next, they take a look at the scores among traditionally lower-performing groups — such as economically disadvantaged and minority students — to find out which schools are performing better than their statistical expectations.

Finally, they looked at college-readiness, using data from Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests. Those schools that had the highest percentage of students performing at the college level tipped the scales into the different categories.

The magazine used data from the 2006-07 school year.

In addition to EFHS, the following state schools were recognized as bronze medal schools by U.S. News and World Report magazine: Big Creek High, McDowell County; Bluefield High, Mercer County; Clay County High, Clay County; East Hardy High, Hardy County; Elkins High, Randolph County; Gilmer County High, Gilmer County; Hundred High, Wetzel County; John Marshall High, Marshall County; Matewan High, Mingo County; Meadow Bridge High, Fayette County; Morgantown High, Monongalia County; Nicholas County High; Nicholas County; Philip Barbour High, Barbour County; Tolsia High, Wayne County; Van High, Boone County; Wayne High, Wayne County; Winfield High, Putnam County; Wyoming County East High, Wyoming County.

E-mail Katie Wilson at kwilson@timeswv.com.