The Ohio Dept. of Education usually publishes school report cards before the start of school, but the release date was postponed until mid-September this year due to delays from snow days last school year.

While waiting for state rankings, students and staff can find comfort in the fact that BHS has improved in several national rankings released in the past year, including those published by The Washington Post and Newsweek.

“We’re very happy with the rankings we’ve attained so far,” Principal Edward Klein said. “But, of course, we’re constantly striving for better rankings, and we’re encouraging students to take honors and AP classes.”

The Washington Post placed Beachwood as the nation’s 557th most challenging high school out of 2,120 public schools ranked in 2014, which is the school’s best rank from the source thus far, and an improvement of 271 places from the prior year.

The Washington Post determined their ranking by analyzing the number of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) tests given, divided by the number of graduating seniors.

“The (Washington Post) rankings measure what percentage of kids take AP exams, so I don’t think they really reflect what the kids really learned,” social studies teacher Greg Deegan said, “They just acknowledge the fact that they took the exam.”

Newsweek placed Beachwood as the 199th most difficult high school out of 2,000 schools, by considering a variety of factors including each school’s graduation and college acceptance rates, SAT, ACT, AP or IB scores and the number of students enrolled in advanced classes.

Washington Post and Newsweek rankings are likely to increase significantly this coming year, since previous ratings do not reflect the increase of students enrolled in AP classes during the 2013-14 school year. According to Klein, AP enrollment jumped from 310 to 457.

However, US News used a different method to rank high schools by determining each school’s scores on state assessments as well as graduates’ performances in college. By these measures, Beachwood was ranked 1,344 out of 2,019 schools, based on information from the 2011-2012 school year.

“I am proud of the academic achievement of Beachwood’s students as reflected in various publications’ rankings of top U.S. high schools,” Superintendent Richard Markwardt wrote in an email. “Despite the limited conclusions that can be drawn from these rankings, the public uses them as a convenient way to rate schools.

“It is therefore important that we perform well in the rankings,” he added. “To do so, we must encourage our students to complete a strong and challenging curriculum that provides them with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.”

Deegan is skeptical of the value of these rankings.

“When the average person believes the school district does an excellent job … the housing values increase,” he said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily positive, but it certainly is a reality. I don’t think they impact the students very much.”

According to the Ohio Dept. of Education district report cards from the 2012-2103 school year, the most recent available, Beachwood City Schools earned ‘A’s for achievement on state testing, graduation rate and the progress of gifted students. However, the district received only a C for the progress of lowest 20% of students and of those with special needs.

2015 will see revamped state report cards as the state unveils new end-of-course exams in core subject areas.

“No ranking can depict the true quality of each school,” Klein said. “You have to look at the entire school, the programs that are offered, and the engagement of the students.”