Taking a look at the richest high schools in American, some might be tempted to equate wealth with prestige. Below, readers can take a look into the wealthiest high schools in America, and wealth should not be confused with academic prestige, or quality of education. It is true, in many cases, schools with a great deal of wealth tend to provide excellent academic preparation for their students, but the top five richest schools vary from the top five most academically rigorous schools.
How Wealth is Defined in the Study:
The Schools evaluated in this article are rated based on the wealth of the enrollers, funding, and tuition cost of attendance. Only wealth accounted for in tuition and attendance fees is considered in the financial condition of each school. The top and bottom one percent of data has been discarded to eliminate unnatural spikes in information interpretation.
New York: Scarsdale Senior High School
With a student to teacher ration of about eleven to one, it is no surprise that this school reports average national test scores hovering around the mark of perfection. In-class tests range only a little lower than state and national exams for the students at Scarsdale Senior. The median income for families in this New York neighborhood is above $230,000 yearly.
The real estate market in the area might be as telling as anything to develop a picture of how the richest high school lives. Houses sell for a minimum of one point five million dollars. The education is top notch, for those who can afford to attend.
Connecticut: Weston High School
Families living in the Weston district average $209,000 yearly. Weston High School has a student to teacher ratio of thirteen to one. Their national test rankings top out around ninety-eight percent and families in the area consistently send their children to Ivy League colleges. Weston has a small student body, just fewer than eight hundred students.
With the smaller community size and focused class sizes, students at Weston are well care for. The academic performance of these students tends to range in the top twenty-five best in the nation. When surveyed, parents cite the longevity of teacher’s careers as central to the school’s success, and indeed, most teachers who work at Weston do not move until retirement.
Oregon: Riverdale High School
Since 2006, Riverdale has claimed one of the highest national performance on standardized exams. Their students boast of having the best education in the nation. Riverdale is the exception to the rule, wealth does not equal educational prestige. As the third richest high school in America, it is also in the top five academic environments.
Moreover, while the median income of this Oregon town is slightly less than two hundred thousand dollars and third highest in the nation, it is noteworthy that Riverdale is the only school in the top ten, let alone the top five, not posted in the greater New England area. This Oregon suburb has the nation talking.
New York: Horace Greeley High School
Horace Greeley High School is at the center of the Chappaqua Central School District, and the residents whose children attend the school, earn a median income of $198,000 dollars a year. Academic excellence is a guiding goal at Horace Greeley, and the majority of its students attend the college of their choosing.
Horace Greeley is noted as having a strong sense for helping its student and teacher population to maintain a focus on cultural developments. The school was among the first in the nation to begin utilizing computer tablets, and they continue to push for the beneficial advances technology provides.
New York: Briarcliff High School
So, New York has a condensed population of wealthy residents. Briarcliff residents earn a median income of $183,000. The surprising statistic that catapults Briarcliff into the top five wealthiest schools in the nation is not strictly the family income.
Students at Briarcliff High School pay more for tuition than Horace Greeley, Riverdale, Weston or Scarsdale students. Teachers and administrators are quick to focus on the academic excellence of their students, and they are not able to cover the interesting distinction that puts them in the top five.
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Cara Fuller is a school administrator and guest author at TopMastersInEducation, where you can read her latest article on top-rated online master of education degree programs.