OAKLAND, Calif. — Vergennes Union High School was one of 10 Vermont high schools and 2,158 in 29 states nationwide honored by GreatSchools.org with 2020 College Success Awards.
GreatSchools.org, a 22-year-old nonprofit headquartered in Oakland, Calif., describes itself as “empowering parents to unlock educational opportunities for their children.”
According to a Great Schools press release, its College Success Award “honors high schools around the country that excel in ensuring students are prepared for college and, ultimately, careers — as determined by available data in each state. These schools graduate students who are academically primed for college-level courses, enroll in two- or four-year colleges, and persist into their second year.”
The press release noted, “College- and career-ready graduates are critical to fueling the U.S. economy, as 70 percent of jobs will require a postsecondary degree by 2027.”
Twenty-one states did not make data available, according to GreatSchools, and their high schools were not evaluated on criteria that included:
•  “the percentage of students from a 4-year cohort who graduate from high school” and their performance on college entrance exams.
•  Their percentage in enrollment in college or any “institution of higher learning” since graduation.
•  “College performance” and “persistence,” including those returning for a second year and/or needing remediation.
Other high schools in Vermont recognized were Stowe, South Burlington, Champlain Valley, Burlington, Mount Mansfield, Woodstock, Colchester, BFA-Fairfax and Montpelier.
According to the press release, the award “delivers a snapshot of whether a high school provides opportunities for all students,” because “schools that succeed in supporting students from low-income backgrounds receive additional favorability.”
However, Vermont was not listed as one of the states that “provided additional data on measurements of college success for low-income students which allowed GreatSchools.org to review the schools’ college success efforts with a greater lens on equity.”