Mystic Valley has been recognized twice by U.S. News & World  Report Magazine as one of the top high schools in the country!

2009  

Mystic Valley 10th Best IB School in the Nation

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School was ranked as the 10th best International Baccalaureate High School in the country by U.S. News & World Report magazine.  The magazine’s annual report examines nearly 22,000 high schools in the United States before ranking them based on their academic achievements. Mystic Valley was ranked 10th out of the 669 International Baccalaureate Diploma High Schools in America as well as in the top 8% of all high schools in the nation.

“Our International Baccalaureate Program at Mystic Valley continues to grow both in student numbers and scope. Our success with the program continues to furnish evidence of the high academic standards that prevail at Mystic Valley” stated Gordon Bradford, the head of the International Baccalaureate program at Mystic Valley.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is a challenging two-year curriculum which leads to a qualification that is widely recognized by the world's leading universities. The Diploma Programme prepares students for university and encourages them to: ask challenging questions; learn how to learn; develop a strong sense of their own identity and culture and to develop the ability to communicate with and understand people from other countries and cultures. The curriculum contains six subject groups (language, second language, individuals and societies, experimental sciences, mathematics and computer sciences and the arts) together with a core made up of three separate parts. All three parts of the core (extended essay, theory of knowledge and creativity, action service) are compulsory and are central to the philosophy of the Diploma Programme. The extended essay is a 4,000 word paper that offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest and acquaints students with the independent research and writing skills expected at the university level. The interdisciplinary Theory of Knowledge course is designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across disciplines, encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspectives. Participation in the school's Creativity, Action Service program encourages students to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports and community service work, thus fostering students' awareness and appreciation of life outside the academic arena.

Mystic Valley, Executive Director, Dr. Joseph McCleary, proudly added: “Our entire school community is greatly pleased by the continuing recognition of Mystic Valley’s excellence in public education. For the third year in a row, a national news magazine has recognized our school as exemplary. Congratulations to all of the students, families, faculty and staff who make such achievements possible.” 

Mystic Valley was named the 94th best high school in America by Newsweek magazine last year and was ranked in the top 8% of United States High Schools by US News & World Report in 2007. 

2007

MYSTIC VALLEY REGIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL RANKED IN TOP 8% OF US HIGH SCHOOLS BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

U.S. News & World Report magazine analyzed academic and enrollment data from 18,790 public high schools to find the very best across the country. The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School was ranked within the top 8% of the schools analyzed. “It is a great accomplishment for a new school. Most of the other schools receiving similar rankings are long established institutions” said Principal Roy Dado.

The 2008 U.S. News & World Report, America’s Best High Schools methodology was based on the key principle that a great high school must serve all its students well and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes that show the school is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators. The analysis first determined whether each school’s students were performing better than statistically expected for the average student in their state. The second step determined whether the school’s least advantaged students were performing better than average for similar students in the state.

Neil Kinnon, Chairman of Mystic Valley’s Board of Trustees proudly stated that “this is a great honor for the school and demonstrates that public schools in our area, regardless of the students economic means, can deliver top quality educational outcomes if they use proven methods, maintain a disciplined academic environment and stay focused on a mission without falling prey to educational fads.”

The top 8% ranking comes on the heels of several other pieces of impressive academic news at the school. Twenty of the thirty-three students from this year’s graduating class received John and Abigail Adams Scholarships. The scholarships, granting students free tuition to any Massachusetts state college or university, were received by over 60% of the graduating seniors – a percentage that is believed to be among the highest in the state! The school placed second in the entire state on the 10th grade English portion of the MCAS test with a score of 97! Mystic Valley scored 70th out of 283 districts in 10th grade Math and 6th in the state in Biology.

The top 8% ranking and high test scores are consistent with the excellent results that the school’s students have achieved in recent years. Mystic Valley has consistently outperformed its sending school districts. School officials said they are committed to continuing their record of success.

The top 8% ranking is indicative of the school’s success in attempting to reach the ultimate goals of the school which are to demonstrate the heights of academic achievement that public schools can routinely attain when the advantages of charter school governance are coupled with new academic standards, to offer area families new choices in public school education, to create new professional opportunities for teachers that allow them to succeed, and to graduate well-educated, civic minded adults who are capable of thoughtful, logical reasoning.