Federal Way and Thomas Jefferson high schools both made it onto Newsweek’s annual list of America’s Best High Schools for 2010. Federal Way ranked 428 and Thomas Jefferson ranked 793.

Thirty-two schools in Washington made Newsweek’s list. Of those schools, Federal Way was ranked 7th and Thomas Jefferson was ranked 12th. Federal Way had the highest percentage of students among the Washington schools who qualify for free or reduced lunch with 59 percent. Thomas Jefferson was among the highest with 43 percent. Both schools placed among perennial high achievers such as Mercer Island, Newport and Interlake high schools.

According to the Newsweek article, public schools are ranked according to a formula that takes the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school and divides that by the number of graduating seniors. All of the 1623 schools on the Newsweek list are in the top six percent of public schools measured this way.

It is an honor for any school to be chosen for Newsweek’s Best High Schools list. Federal Way High School has a unique population when compared to other typically high achieving schools.

- 65 % of FWHS students are students of color.
- 59 % of FWHS students are on Free or Reduced Lunch.
- 36% of FWHS students speak a language other than English at home.
- 18 % of FWHS students are enrolled in the AVID program.
- 13% of FWHS students are enrolled in the Cambridge Program.
- 12 % of FWHS students participate in our Student Support Services program.
- 8% of FWHS students are in our English Language Learners program.

“The Federal Way High School staff commitment to AVID, coupled with our district's commitment to paying for the cost of taking AP and Cambridge tests had a direct impact on the increase in students taking and succeeding in advanced courses,” said Principal Lisa Griebel. “Federal Way High School is honored to be on the Newsweek Best High Schools List.”

This is the second consecutive year that Thomas Jefferson has been on Newsweek’s Best High Schools list. Thomas Jefferson was the first of Federal Way Public Schools to ever be on the list in 2009. This year, 74 Thomas Jefferson seniors completed all the requirements to graduate with an International Baccalaureate diploma.

Why Is Test Participation Important?

Research conducted by the district’s Equity and Achievement office in 2001 confirmed that one of the issues impacting minority students’ acceptance into college was that they lacked a history of taking Advanced Placement and other college preparatory classes successfully.

Further investigation showed that they often hadn’t taken challenging classes in middle school and in their 9th and 10th grade years, which would have prepared them for the rigors of Advanced Placement classes in 11th and 12th grade and college afterward. To increase the number of minority students taking AP level classes successfully, the district set out to prepare and encourage students of all backgrounds to take college preparatory programs.

Beginning in Fall 2010, a new board policy will begin to increase the number of students who are capable of succeeding in rigorous classes, but haven’t chosen to opt into them. As part of the Academic Acceleration Policy, schools will automatically enroll every middle and high school student who qualifies into advanced classes. These classes may include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge courses.

Superintendent Tom Murphy notes, “The work at Federal Way and Thomas Jefferson is reflective of the work across the district, connecting all students with rigorous course work. I am proud that the staffs at these schools have had such success with their efforts and that this success is garnering national recognition.”

Note: Newsweek may continue to fine-tune their data and list of top schools. The specific rankings may change slightly as some schools are added and others are removed from the list. Because Newsweek does not notify districts directly of changes in the rankings, readers should go to Newsweek’s website for the most current rankings.