Are Hendersonville Kids College Ready?

There's been some buzz lately about Merrol Hyde Magnet School's "Gold" ranking from U.S. News and World Report.  MHMS ranks 3rd in the state (behind two magnet schools in Nashville) and 109th in the nation. 

That's no surprise, really.  The school is small and targeted toward academically talented kids.  It's good news that the teachers and programs there are serving those students well. 

What's interesting in the numbers is that other Hendersonville-area schools are not fairing as well as their counterparts in Middle Tennessee. 

The schools get scored on 1) College Readiness 2) Algebra Proficiency and 3) English Proficiency

Here's how Hendersonville-area high schools scored:

                            College Readiness            Algebra            English

Station Camp                           14.5                             2.4                    2.7

Beech                                       10.7                             2.5                    2.9

Hendersonville                         9.4                              2.4                    2.8

By way of comparison, here's how some other area schools scored:

Mt. Juliet (Wilson)                  16.8                           2.6                     2.9

Siegel (Rutherford)                18.5                           2.9                      2.9

Blackman (Rutherford)         15.5                           2.8                      2.9

Centennial (Williamson)       34.4                           2.3                      3.0

Fairview (Williamson)         21.9                           2.6                      2.7

Franklin (Williamson)         21.8                           2.6                      3.2

Independence (Williamson) 26.1                           2.8                     3.2


It is noteworthy that all of these schools scored significantly higher than the Hendersonville schools on college readiness in spite of similar student populations.  The U.S. News college readiness index is based on AP and IB scores -- percentage of students who take AP tests and percentage who pass.  It seems we're either not offering enough AP OR not getting a high enough percentage of our AP students to pass. 

Also of concern is the Algebra proficiency -- all but Centennial score higher than the Hendersonville schools on Algebra. 

How can Sumner County change these numbers and have more schools with high scores?  First, by offering more AP classes -- the proposed IB "academy" at Beech may be one way to do this.  And second, by incorporating more rigor in the high school curriculum.  We've been hearing and seeing numbers that show Sumner County schools struggle with Math relative to other subjects for several years now.  More should be done to address these struggles. 

Parents should be encouraging their children to take higher level and more challenging courses and asking for more AP. 

Of course, all of this isn't free.  So, will the County Commission settle for these results... or, will they give Sumner Schools the investment needed to go to the next level?