Dear Parent/Guardian:

As you may know, US News & World Report's recent publication of the Best High Schools excluded Nanuet in its rankings that also included neighboring high schools with similiar demographics. Among the criteria used in this publication are students' participation in Advanced Placement tests in 2009-10 as well as performance on Regents tests. In my analysis, I could not find sufficient disparities to warrant not being included in the ranking. As a result we sent a letter of inquiry to US News & World Report seeking further information.

The major purpose of US N&W Report's rankings is to identify high schools that are excelling at preparing students for college and career readiness. Nanuet's commitment and approach to this goal is reflected in the fact that 54 percent of juniors and 90 percent of seniors are presently enrolled in at least one AP or college-level course.

Unfortunately, US N&W Report's ranking system does not take into consideration courses that are actually college courses. As a result, the 300 college classes attended by junior and senior Nanuet students are counted as regular classes by US N&W Report. Therefore, our "college preparedness ranking" suffered because these students are enrolled in actual college classes. There has been considerable criticism of the Report's accuracy and methodology.

In March, all tenth graders were given a college readiness assessment (the Accuplacer Test) in order to identify students who would require remedial coursework prior to taking freshman-level English (example English 101). Our results indicated that 82% of our current sophomores passed, which gives us another measure for identifying students who require additional resources.

Last month all ninth and tenth graders were given the third of three administrations of the AIMSweb online assessment to measure growth in reading comprehension and reading fluency. The purpose of administering this assessment three times each year is to provide students and teachers with information that can be used to increase students' achievement on SATs and improve one's ability to read college level texts.

Recently, juniors interested in undertaking a senior year internship submitted proposals in the following career areas: Athletic Training; Law; Broadcasting; Teaching; Event Planning; Fashion; Government; Nursing; Pharmacology; Medicine; Law Enforcement; Psychology; Veterinarian Science. Additional High School information can be found on the Guidance Department's webpage.

Lastly, twice in the last five years, Money Magazine listed Nanuet as one of the best places to live in America, in part due to its strong schools. The following link will take you to the High School's School Report card, which provides comprehensive information on our students' and school's performance.

Thank you,

Dr. Mark S. McNeill
Superintendent of Schools