College Readiness Lagging at Stratford High Schools: Report

U.S. News and World Report this week released its rankings of the top public high schools in the country, as well as the top 35 in Connecticut.

And while Stratford’s two high schools did not crack the top 35 – Darien High School took the top spot – data compiled by U.S. News offers some insight on Stratford and Bunnell high school, when compared to the other 194 Connecticut high schools surveyed.

Both Stratford and Bunnell had a student-to-teacher ratio larger than the state average and a college readiness score, based on senior AP exams, below the state average.

The reported student-to-teacher ratio at Bunnell was 16:1 and at Stratford was 15:1.

Researchers found 12 percent of seniors at Bunnell took AP exams with 10 percent passing; while 12 percent of seniors at Stratford took AP exams with 7 percent passing.

By comparison, Connecticut's top high school in Darien AP tested 61 percent of seniors and 59 percent passed. The last ranked school at number 35, Sports & Med Science in Hartford, had 21 percent of seniors tested with 15 percent passing.

Both Stratford schools scored near the state average in math and reading, based on state exams, according to the report.

U.S. News and Washington, DC-based American Institutes for Research used data on how well students perform overall on state-mandated assessments, as well as how groups such as black, Hispanic and low-income students perform.

“Schools were ranked within each state, as well as on a national stage, so families can see how their public high school stacked up against rivals within the community and across the country,” U.S. News said.

Here are the top-20 ranked high schools in Connecticut, with the second number indicating national ranking:

1. Darien High School—Darien (217)

2. Conard High School—West Hartford (218)

3. Weston High School—Weston (240)

4. Ridgefield High School—Ridgefield (250)

5. Farmington High School—Farmington (258)

6. Wilton High School—Wilton (292)

7. Staples High School—Westport (296)

8. William H. Hall High School—West Hartford (394)

9. Joel Barlow High School—Redding (434)

10. Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy—East Hartford (448)

11. Fairfield Ludlowe High School—Fairfield (483)

12. East Lyme High School—East Lyme (524)

13. Granby Memorial High School—Granby (527)

14. Avon High School—Avon (532)

15. New Canaan High School—New Canaan (544)

16. Simsbury High School—Simsbury (547)

17. Metropolitan Learning Center—Bloomfield (716)

18. Daniel Hand High School—Madison (773)

19. Amity Regional High School—Woodbridge (780)

20. Fairfield Warde High School—Fairfield (792)