Platteville High School is the second highest ranked Wisconsin high school in Newsweek magazine’s America’s Top High Schools 2015.
PHS ranked 200th, behind only Whitefish Bay High School, which ranked 30th, in the annual ranking of the U.S.’ top 500 high schools based on college readiness, graduation rate, and percentage of college-bound students.
The survey reported a 100 percent PHS senior graduation rate, with 92.4 percent of seniors enrolling in college.
Newsweek also ranked PHS 136th, and the top among Wisconsin high schools, on its Beating the Odds list, “schools that do an excellent job of preparing their students for college while also overcoming the obstacles posed by students at an economic disadvantage.” That list notes PHS for helping low-income students score at or above the average on state assessments.
The Newsweek survey also reported the percentage of students on free or reduced-price lunch. PHS was reported at 29.8 percent, the highest free- or reduced-price lunch rate of any Wisconsin high school that made the top 500.
“Platteville High School has an outstanding staff that works hard for all of our students,” said Platteville Public Schools superintendent Connie Valenza. “The fact that Platteville High School was chosen as a Top High School in the Nation is made even more special by simultaneously being chosen as a top ‘Beating the Odds’ High School for our disadvantaged students.
“The community can be very proud of the education provided to our students at all grade levels. We know that it takes great elementary schools and middle schools to prepare students to make the most of their high school experience.”
The U.S. has, depending on who is measuring, more than 20,000 public high schools, along with more than 10,000 private high schools and an unknown number of charter schools.
Other ranked Wisconsin high schools on the Newsweek list included Homestead High School in Mequon, 242nd; New Berlin Middle/High School, 264th; Cedarburg, 266th; Nicolet High School in Glendale, 289th; Valley New School in Appleton, 304th; New Glarus, 324th; Waunakee, 351st; Lakeview Technology Academy in Pleasant Prairie, 389th; Pewaukee, 397th; Shorewood, 406th; Brookfield East, 475th; and KM Global School in Wales, 496th.
Another ranking, the U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools list, ranks Platteville High School at number 1,574, 29th highest in Wisconsin. Fennimore High School ranked 14th, and Lancaster High School ranked 17th, and Prairie du Chien High School ranked 26th, on the U.S. News list. PHS ranked above state average in college readiness and on state reading and math assessments, and near state average in student-to-teacher ratio.
Platteville Public Schools scored 79.8, highest of any Southwest Wisconsin school district, in the 2013–14 state Department of Public Instruction school report cards. PHS ranked sixth in Southwest Wisconsin with a 79.7, while Westview Elementary School ranked third with an 82.7, and Platteville Middle School ranked fifth, with an 80.
PPS ranked 18th among the state’s more than 400 school districts, with Platteville High School 31st statewide, in the online Niche K–12 comparison of Wisconsin high schools. PPS and PHS got the highest ranking of any school district and high school west of Madison and south of La Crosse. The Niche rankings were based on statistics and student, parent and alumni surveys.
