BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Several high schools in our area rank the best of the best in not only Arkansas but the nation.
Haas Hall Academy in Bentonville was ranked #1 in the state and #8 in the nation.
Hass Hall in Fayetteville came in second in Arkansas and is immediately followed by Bentonville, then Fayetteville.
Rogers New Technology High School rounded out the top five, while Southside High School in Fort Smith received 8th and Greenwood came in 12th.
Headmaster Rod Wittenberg at Haas Hall in Bentonville says students and parents were ecstatic when they learned their schools were ranked #1 and #2 in the state and 8th nationally.
“There were lots of exciting emails coming into the school and they were congratulating the school but I just wanted to flip it back around and say well you should give your son or daughter a high five because this is a credit to them,” Wittenberg said.
The school rating is based on a collection of information including the ACT aspire scores, how many students are taking AP classes, graduation rate and they wrap all of that up into numerical value. This honor is really based on student’s performance.
“I'm so excited for the scholars, so excited for excellent teachers and then, of course, the parents support that we get at Haas Hall Academy,” Wittenberg said.
Following Haas Hall schools, Bentonville High School was ranked third in the state.
Jennifer Morrow with the district says it's an accomplishment they couldn’t achieve alone.
“We are always proud to be a top-ranking school and we're also proud to collaborate with those schools around us because we learn from our neighbors and our peers every day. But we're glad to bring a great product home to our community,” Morrow said.
Behind Bentonville came Fayetteville schools in 4th with Rogers New Technology High School following respectively in 5th.
Principal Lance Arbuckle says because they offer a different approach to learning, ranking in the top five assures them their tactic works.
“We're trying to offer every kid a personalized experience and it takes a lot of work to do that and this is another validation of that work,” Arbuckle said.
School leaders say validation of work is so important right in the midst of COVID-19 while students are learning from home.
Southside Principal Lisa Miller says ranking 8th was definitely exciting but also the encouragement her students needed.
“Just to see that students have been recognized for all the work they’ve done and put in so far I just think that’s a great push to help us get to the finish line and finish strong,” Miller said.