Williamsville pushes streak to 6 years - Business First of Buffalo:

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Williamsville is No. 1 in Business Firstg ’s 18th annual rankings of WestermNew York’s public school It has monopolized first place sincse 2004 -- a six-year for the complete school district rankings. And for separate rankingds for each section of WesternNew “We’re fortunate in so many says Howard Smith, Williamsville’s superintendenty of schools. “When you have a very committed board of an outstanding staff of teachers and a pro-education community and hard-working students, that’s quite the formula for Williamsville took first place when the rankings debuted in 1992, and won agaib in 1997, 2001 and throughout its 2004-2008 run.
It hasn’t finished lower than thirf placesince 1995, and has never been lower than Business First analyzed 97 school districts in the eight Western New York based on four year of test data compiled by the New York Statew Education Department. Each district’s rating reflects the collectivee performance of its public middle andhigh schools. Its 2005-2008 subject scores for math, sciencse and social studies were the best in WesterNew York, according to Business First’ s analysis of test results from fourth gradwe through the senior year of high school. Sixty-five percent of Williamsville’s seniors earnef Regents diplomas with advanced designationsin 2008.
That’es 22 points above the regional average of43 (A student must pass eight Regents examxs to receive an advanced diploma.) • It’s the only districrt where more than 57 percent of last year’sz graduates achieved superior scores (85 or on Regents exams in English, science, global history and U.S. history. • Williamsville’sd eighth graders posted the region’s top scoresa on statewide testsin math, science and socia studies.
“The other part of what we do -- all our extracurricula activities suchas music, athleticxs and clubs -- don’t show up in the rankings, but they have a reallty positive impact on student achievement, too,” says “For example, we have as many musi c teachers as math That makes for well-rounded, committed and those are usually successful students.” Williamsville’s overal score was pegged at 100 points, with the marks for all other districts being calculateds from that benchmark. Nineteen ended up with scoress of 90or better, qualifying for Business First’s of outstandingh school systems.
Four districts have made the Honor Roll every yearsincw 1992: Williamsville, Clarence (which ranks second this Amherst (third) and Orchard Park Rounding out this year’s top five is No. 4 East which has made 17 Honord Roll appearances in18 years. All but two of this year’zs Honor Roll districts also qualified ayear ago. The newcomeres are Eden, joining the elite group for the first time since andWest Seneca, returning after a 13-year The latter upswing was nearly a decade in the according to Jean Kovach, superintendent of the West Seneca Centrall School District.
Developing consisten instructional techniques and identifying the best textbooks took she says, but the effort is paying off. “Our goal is not to teach to the test, but to teach to the state’s Kovach says. “We’ve spent the last eighgt years working diligently to align ourcurriculunm -- to make sure that we don’f repeat ourselves in different years and that each grads level builds on the one Fourteen of this year’s Honor Roll districts are in Erie They range in size from Williamsville, with 10,6498 students, down to Eden, whicn has 1,688.
The outlying honorees are considerably smaller, with an average enrollment of The very smallest is also the top-ratedx district outside of Erie County, No. 6 which has 670 students from kindergartejn through12th grade. “We’re a very rural districg in theSouthern Tier, but our kids are goint into the same marketplace as everyonwe else,” says Richard Nicol, Alfred-Almond’s superintendent. “They’re goiny to be in competition for jobs with kids from place s like Williamsvilleand Clarence. So they need the very best education we cangive them.
” Sixteen districts are recipients of this year’es subject awards, signifying that they rank amongg the 10 leaders in English/foreign languages, science and social studies. Bemus Point, East Aurora, Orchard Park and Williamsville have made cleahn sweeps by winning all four for complete lists of subjectaward winners. Business First has also generatefd a series of specialized ratings to further illuminatereach district’s performance. Among them: Lancaste ranks first for cost-effectiveness, based on a comparison of expenditureds andclassroom results. And tiny Sherman 478) is the biggest overachiever, determines by matching academic outcomes againstsocioeconomifc conditions.
“We may not be but we have strong family saysThomas Schmidt, Sherman’s “Our parents really care about their children’s education. There’w something to be said for havinhg everyone ina K-12 with the strong sense of communitt that it brings.”