KENNNEBUNK – Kennebunk High School is No. 2 in the state in 2022 rankings by U.S. News & World Report. It is the third consecutive year for the number two ranking. Greely High School in Cumberland ranked first for the third straight year.
Maine has 126 high schools in 121 districts; 113 were included in the rankings.
Maine School of Math and Science in Limestone came third in the 2022 rankings and Cape Elizabeth High School, fourth.
For the third consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Kennebunk High School No. 2 in Maine. Dan King photo
Kennebunk came in 1,994 out of 17, 843 schools ranked nationally, and has a graduation rate of 97 percent, according to U.S. News & World Report. Enrollment is 751. The student teacher ratio is 12 to 1. The school’s overall score was 88.82.
Students who took SATs scored above the Maine average in reading, where they scored at 71 percent proficiency compared to the state’s 50 percent; 66 percent in science compared to the state’s 50 percent, and 59 percent in math, as compared to the state’s 30 percent.
Kennebunk High School has an 8.8 percent minority enrollment, U.S. News & World Report noted.
The International Baccalaureate participation rate at Kennebunk High School is 46 percent; about 33 percent passed at least one IB exam.
About 16 percent of the total student body is considered economically disadvantaged.
Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college.
Kennebunk students ranked second statewide in college readiness, first in college curriculum breadth index rank; seventh in state assessment proficiency and 32nd in state assessment performance.
About 40 percent of underserved students were proficient; 60 percent of those not considered underserved were proficient, according to the report.
The overall student percentile score on SATs, which measures overall student performance on state-required tests, was 94.6 percent, or “somewhat above expectations,” according to the report. U.S. News and World Report.
The news and analysis company ranks schools annually in coordination with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm.
While the six ranking indicators that determined each school’s rank were the same as those used in the three prior years, U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on schools in the 2019-2020 school year, the organization pointed out.
“With most states closing schools for in-person instruction beginning in March 2020 – typically just before most states conduct assessments – the U.S. Department of Education granted waivers allowing all states to forego state testing for the 2019-2020 school year,” U.S. News & World Report stated.
The company said an average of the following years and academic subjects were used: 2016-2017 math and reading assessment data; 2017-2018 math and reading assessment data; and 2018-2019 math, reading and science assessment data.
U.S. News & World Report uses data from the U.S. Department of Education and statewide reading, math, and science assessments; Advanced Placement exam data from the College Board and the International Baccalaureate, where applicable.
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