Proviso Mathematics and Science Academy is ranked among the top high schools in the United States, according to Newsweek magazine.
PMSA was ranked 230th nationally overall based on its college readiness index score devised by Newsweek and research company, Westat, for the magazine’s top high schools list. It also ranked PMSA 10th among the 16 Illinois schools that made the overall top list. In addition, in the magazine’s “Beating the Odds” rankings, which factor in a school’s college readiness ranking and its level of poverty, PMSA ranked 65th in the country and third among Illinois high schools.
The scores for the schools on the lists, which ranked the top 500 high schools of the nation’s more than 24,000 public secondary schools, were computed with a formula weighing its enrollment rate, graduation rate, weighted Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate composite scores, weighted SAT and ACT composite scores, its holding power (change in student enrollment between freshman and senior years), and its counselor-to-student ratio, according to the magazine.
Dr. Bessie Karvelas, principal at PMSA, said that it is an honor to receive the national recognition.
“We have only just begun,” she said. “I celebrate and acknowledge my teachers who made this happen, and the students who respected and embraced the changes that our leadership team brought to the school. The recognition motivates us to work even harder to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of all of ourstudents to eventually achieve the number one ranking in the state of Illinois.”
Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart, superintendent of District 209, said that she is proud of the recognition of PMSA.
“The faculty and students should be proud of their achievement, something they have worked hard to accomplish,” she said. “This achievement is reflective of the quality instruction there, and we congratulate PMSA on receiving this recognition.”
PMSA has been no stranger to high rankings at the local, state, and national levels. In 2012 and 2013, the school ranked 14th among the top 20 public high schools in Cook County, according to rankings by Chicagomagazine, and 32nd among the top 50 public high schools in the Chicago area, according to the Chicago Tribune.
