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Bartow IB School Climbs List of U.S. Elite

Monday, June 15, 2009

LAKELAND| Bartow International Baccalaureate School is now in the top 10 percent of America’s best schools, according to Newsweek’s annual rankings.

The school jumped nearly 50 spots to 140 in the magazine’s list of the top 1,500 schools after it fell 12 spots in 2008 from 176 to 188. The school was first listed by the magazine as No. 459 out of 806 schools in 2003.

Earlier this school year, U.S. News & World Report ranked the IB school No. 7 on its list of “America’s Best High Schools.” The A school, which has about 269 students, started in 1995 and is located at Bartow High School.

More than 125 Florida schools made Newsweek’s list. The magazine ranked Plant City High School at 358, up from 847 in 2008. Stanton College Prep, a Jacksonville magnet school, received a No. 4 ranking, the highest in Florida.

The School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas ranked No. 1 overall.

Sherrie Nickell, associate superintendent for learning for the Polk County School District, praised the school.

“The curriculum and instruction in the program are rigorous, yet our students continue to excel and distinguish themselves not only in Florida and the nation, but also internationally,” Nickell wrote in an e-mail. “We are so proud that, once again, this stellar program has afforded Polk County the opportunity to be showcased in this internationally known publication.”

Newsweek ranks the high schools based on a ratio that examines the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school divided by the number of graduation seniors. The Cambridge tests are similar to AP and IB tests but not as widely used.

AP classes offer high school students a chance to take a college-level course that gives college credit for a passing grade on the national standardized end-of-the-year exam.

Schools in Central Florida ahead of Bartow include Hillsborough High School (No. 46), C. Leon King High School (No. 65), in Tampa, Plant High School in Tampa (No. 79), Seminole High School in Seminole (No. 130) and Seminole School in Sanford (No. 124).

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