2007: Park View High School Named As One of Best High Schools in America

PVH Building Leadership Team:

Front Row (Left - Right) Ben Taylor, Trudy Gentry, Karen Champion

Second Row (Left - Right) Chrystal Harris, Sarah Trumbull

Third Row (Left - Right) Denise Kirby, Jolanda Stevenson 

(Article reprinted from South Hill Enterprise) 

SOUTH HILL - Mecklenburg County school officials are singing the praises of Park View High School, which has been named by U.S. News & World Report in the magazine's listing of the best high schools in America. "Out of thousands of high schools in the nation, Park View was selected as one of the best," Helen Hill, the Mecklenburg County superintendent of schools, said during Monday's school board meeting. "This is quite an accomplishment."  "I know that there has been a great deal of work by teachers and administrators to get where we are," said John Ball, the county school system's director of federal projects, during Monday's meeting. Park View was named a Bronze Medal school in the magazine's Best High Schools 2008 listing. Park View was the only school in Mecklenburg County named to the list; none of the schools in the surrounding counties of Brunswick, Lunenburg or Halifax made the list.

"We're obviously pleased with this award," Park View Principal Ben Taylor said this week. "What makes it so special is that we didn't seek this out. The state department sent out our test scores and we were 1 of 41 schools in Virginia recognized out of 315 in the state. "Our staff does a good job teaching kids that are below the poverty level, we beat the state norm. We teach the whole gamut. The kids, despite what advantages or disadvantages they may have, come ready to learn and that makes our jobs easier. "I really have to tip my hat to the staff," Taylor said. "The teachers take it to heart... they set the bar high and the students meet that level every time. We're extremely proud of that. They're not just good teachers, they're good people." Virginia did well in the listing. The list's No. 1 school in the country was Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Also making the list of the country's 100 gold-medal schools were two other Fairfax schools: Langley High at 37th and Oakton High at 88th. No other state schools were listed in the Top 100. The list included 405 silver-medal schools, with eight in Virginia; and 1,086 bronze-medal schools, including 30 in Virginia. The list named 100 Gold Medal schools in the country, with 405 Silver Medal schools and 1,086 Bronze Medal schools. The list was U.S. News & World Report's first ever ranking of America's Best High Schools. Using a formula produced in collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 data research and analysis business run by Standard & Poor's, a total of 18,790 high schools in 40 states were judged according to three criteria: how each school's students performed on state tests, adjusting for student circumstances; how well each school's disadvantaged students did; and the school was successful in providing college-level coursework.