Teachers and staff at Lake Highlands High are congratulating each other in whispered hoorays and mini-high-fives. They don’t want to jinx anything, but preliminary results put them on track to be named a Texas Recognized School based on recent TAKS testing. Results won’t be official until scores for all the various student subgroups have been analyzed. This would be the first time LHHS achieved the prestigious Recognized designation.
High achievement at the high school is nothing new for our neighborhood. LH kids have been representing us well at universities all over the world for more than forty years. But teachers there work with children from a wide variety of backgrounds and with a wide range of capabilities. The federal No Child Left Behind Act led to school accountability systems which are more indicative of the success of students at the bottom of the achievement ladder than the top.
Why does it matter to you? Because the family that buys your home will want to put their kids into a “good school,” and they’ll be willing to pay you a premium for that privilege. The final numbers will be released soon, but it appears that LHHS actually scored at the Exemplary level, the highest designation, in English and Social Studies. Math and Science were in the Recognized range, a huge win since schools all over America battle to bring up these scores.
LHHS principal Walter Kelly credits the school’s improvement to the hard work and dedication of his teachers and staff, and he thanks all the neighborhood volunteers, tutors and donors who’ve supported LH. Just don’t put away your lucky rabbit’s foot til it’s official.
