In the most recent rankings of the best high schools in West Virginia by U.S. News & World Report, Bridgeport High School was listed as the best Class AA high school in the Mountain State. And the Johnson Avenue facility was ranked as the No. 4 best school in West Virginia regardless of classification.

 

“We’re very pleased to be on the list and we know year in and year out we’ve performed as one of the best high schools in the state,” said BHS Principal Mark DeFazio.  “We’re able to achieve that due to a variety of reasons, including our faculty and staff and our parents, but our students wanting to be successful is the big reason we usually do well in these type of academic rankings.”

 

U.S. News & World Report factored in several criteria when making the list. The four key components utilized were student-teacher ratio, college readiness, as well as proficiency in mathematics and reading. Students involved with advanced placement (AP) classes also figured into the mix, along with multiple other factors such as the number of students that go to college.

 

In the 2016 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, five West Virginia schools earned silver medals and 12 received bronze medals. Bridgeport was one of those five schools; and only schools with gold and silver medals were listed in the national rankings. BHS is ranked 2,397^th nationally.

 

“When you look at the areas considered, our high school and our students did extremely well,” said DeFazio.

 

Bridgeport trailed George Washington, Winfield and Hurricane. All three are Class AAA schools, with two of those schools – GW and Hurricane – having well over 1,000 students. Bridgeport had 715 students. Enrollment proved critical as the larger schools in the state offer more AP classes, which figured into the scoring.

 

“When you have more students you have more faculty and that gives you an opportunity to offer more Advanced Placement classes. Each year we try to add one or two and usually comes down to finding a teacher that’s willing to do that; teach the class,” said DeFazio. “It is additional work and time and once we find the teacher we have to push students in that direction because it’s more work for them as well. In some cases you’ll see a few seniors who don’t want to push themselves their senior year.”

 

DeFazio said in 2016-17, Bridgeport High School will be offering AP Civics. He said a teacher has agreed to do that and he also said he hopes to offer AP Studio Arts.

 

“One thing that’s helped with adding more classes is the county has decided to reward the teachers who teach those classes,”  said DeFazio. “It’s not a lot of money, but it’s still an incentive to do so.

 

“I guess when you look at our AP classes and how we stack up against the larger schools, we don’t do too badly. In fact, we did extremely well,” he continued.  “I’m certainly not displeased at being in the fourth spot overall. I’m very pleased with the efforts of all involved.”

 

Click HERE to see the state ranking for West Virginia.