SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOL SERIES:By AMANDA BOYD WALTERS
Cincinnati Magazine
Though they’re not the only 800-pound gorillas in the educational market (we see you, Mason, St. X, Walnut Hills, Cincinnati Country Day, et. al.), these schools do most everything right, delivering the complete package of academics, athletics, activities, facilities, and faculty.
They’ve all consistently garnered recognition nationally or at the state level through their excellent approaches to education.
Beechwood High School
Beechwood High School
54 Beechwood Rd.
Ft. Mitchell
(859) 331-1220
www.beechwood.k12.ky.us
Enrollment: | 525 (grades 7-12) |
State Designation: | Meeting Goal |
Student-Teacher Ratio: | 14:1 |
Graduation Rate: | 98.6% |
Mean ACT: | 24.4 |
Teachers with Advanced Degrees: | 96% |
Beechwood may be small, but it is definitely mighty. The high school has never fallen below its baseline Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) score, placing it in Kentucky’s highest designation since 2000, meaning that it’s tracking ahead of the curve in terms of test scores. “We really pride ourselves on our test scores,” says Principal Ginger Webb, explaining that the class of 2010 earned the highest composite ACT score—25—in the state of Kentucky. Beechwood has also landed in the top 500 on Newsweek’s high school 2009 ranking and earned a silver medal from U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 best high schools list. “We’re so small there really aren’t any kids who get lost in the cracks,” Webb says.
