(Dallas, Texas, April 28, 2015) – Young Women’s Preparatory Network, an all girls’ college preparatory network of schools, announces that four of its schools ranked in the top 30 of America’s Most Challenging High Schools. The Washington Post compiles this ranking, a brainchild of Jay Mathews who is an educational columnist and blogger for the outlet. Schools are ranked based on a Challenge Index, which “…is designed to identify schools that have done the best job in persuading average students to take college-level courses and tests.”*
Of the seven Young Women’s Prep schools, four were eligible for consideration this year. The Houston school was not eligible because it does not yet have a class that has graduated; its first class graduates in May 2015.
All four eligible schools ranked in the top 30:
#13 Talkington School for Young Women Leaders (Lubbock)
#15 Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School (Dallas)
#19 Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders (Austin)
#27 San Antonio Young Women’s leadership Academy
Lynn McBee, Young Women’s Prep CEO, said, “It is an honor and privilege to be ranked among the top public high schools in the nation. We are competing against other schools based on Advanced Placement and other rigorous tests, and our female students have done very well. Plus, it’s an even greater achievement as 75 percent of our students come from economically disadvantaged homes, and 85 percent will be first generation college students.”
For information on how the America’s Most Challenging High Schools list is assembled, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-americas-most-challenging-high-schools-works-the-selection-method/2015/04/14/cfdd9e44-e30a-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html.
For the complete 2015 list, visit http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2015/list/national/.
About Young Women’s Preparatory Network:
Young Women’s Prep (YWPN) provides funding and other resources to seven all-girls’ public schools in Texas, in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Houston, Lubbock, and San Antonio, working in close collaboration in each community with the public school district. Total enrollment as of last school year was 4,100 students in 6th through 12th grades.
Each YWPN school features a STEM-focused curriculum and is largely attended by disadvantaged students who are second-generation immigrants. The programs also focus on leadership development, college readiness and wellness life skills. Additionally, each school serves as a laboratory example of an innovative public-private education model that results in high student achievement. In 2014, all of the network schools that have been open long enough to have a senior class—146 young women—graduated 100% of their students, who earned a collective $15.8 million in scholarships. Each student was accepted into a four-year college or university. More information can be found at http://youngwomensprep.org/.
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For immediate release:
Media contact: Juliette Coulter, 214.394.5532, juliette@coultergroup.com
