BANGOR, Maine — John Bapst Memorial High School has been ranked the number one high school in northern New England, which includes Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, by The Washington Post in its 2012 annual High School Challenge. The Challenge is designed to reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing the average student for college. John Bapst is a nonsectarian, independent, college-preparatory school in Bangor that serves students in grades nine through 12, the majority of whom are publicly supported.
The Washington Post surveys and ranks approximately 27,000 high schools across the country each year. Its Challenge Index formula is straightforward: total number of Advanced Placement, international baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year divided by the number of graduating seniors.
In addition to ranking number one in northern New England, John Bapst ranked 47 of 278 schools in the entire Northeast region, which includes New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Nationally, John Bapst is ranked 347 of 2005 schools, placing it in the top 20 percent of schools nationwide.
Click here to view The Washington Post High School Challenge article and complete list of high schools.
Click here to see John Bapst’s individual listing.
Isn’t it wonderful to see that we have such a great school right here in our own little community!? It’s nice to see a positive story about Maine education given the recent discourse on the subject.
Yeah its nice to see an elitist school who takes tax payer money but refuses to take any student with any special needs. I would love to see how good they would be having parents pay the tuition and not the communities from around the area.
Actually, they do have special needs kids – when my child went to apply to high school she had a 504 plan that required significant accommodations and we were told (by their counseling office) that not only would she be accepted but that approximately 5% of the students in her class would have either 504s or IEPs. My child ended up not going there, because she decided it just wasn’t the right place for her but my family appreciated the candor about the academic program they offered and the information that the school provided us to make sure that my child would be a success there before they admitted her.
Oh and anyone who thinks its an elitist school should check the number of students eligible for subsidized lunches (17.6%) before making that claim. I don’t have any skin in this game, but am simply happy that we are lucky enough to have school choice and are happy to see that schools in our area are doing well.
You should check your facts before posting.
People who live in communities that do not have high schools (Holden, Veazie, Glenburn, Milbridge, Greenbush, etc.) pay property taxes. Those towns take that tax revenue and use it to pay tuition for their residents’ high school education. Every high school in the Bangor region benefits from this. Because of the competition for students from these school choice towns, the overall quality of all our high schools is higher than it otherwise would be.
How do your public schools rank? All from southern Maine where there are jobs and an educated workforce.
Don’t tell the Govenor.
Our Governor graduated from Husson, he had to drive by Bapst at least once. Perhaps he could go by and see success in action several weeks from now.
“Its Challenge Index formula is straightforward: total number of Advanced
Placement, international baccalaureate and Advanced International
Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year divided by
the number of graduating seniors”
That is what they are basing this on??? the number of tests given? Seems like being ranked “number 1” could easily be attained by giving tests, no matter the scores based on the formula above.
98 percent four-year college attendance and 100 percent graduation rate….shhhhhhhh
No special education students, no special needs students. Does not have to follow the state mandates in education???? ELITIST
It’s a private, college preparatory school so they can accept whoever they want. That doesn’t make them elitist though.
Sound more like SOUR GRAPES to me
The Jesuit roots of this school run deep and while disturbed by losing public subsidies continue to nourish the non-sectarian school which took its place.
The competition among the five regional high schools is also a factor overlooked, and all are top rated schools.
Competition + Catholic school roots = National excellence!
As a relative newcomer, I was unaware that John Bapst was now non-sectarian. When did that take place? Can we assume that the Jesuit background is being maintained even though non-sectarian?
That would not be a fair assumption. The school has been non – sectarian since 1980. Aside from a fairly lenient dress code the school is very liberal at its core. There are no remnants of the schools past affiliation with the Catholic Diocese.
That is my personal opinion as a former Bapst student.
Hasnt been a Catholic school since 1980 and most would agree that since that time is when the school put its focus on College prepatory classes. Private school with a public feel honestly.
Sorry Jeffcol, Private would mean the students paid the tuition not the taxpayers in the towns they live. I would like to know how many students currently attending JB would still be students if their parents had to foot the $8k+ tuition each year.
Did it say anything about how no one wants to be around any of the kids that graduate from Bapts? I mean its like trying to figure out who in a bar is a Navy Pilot. Don’t worry they will tell you. If you want your kid to turn out to be a Hardo, send them to Bapts. NUMBER 1 BABY (in turning out Hardos)!
It’s actually a pretty normal high school with high success rate in turning out college graduates. It’s clear you didn’t take a spelling class throughout your education because you can’t even spell Bapst. Now who is the HARDO?
Also did you graduate high school? Or did you just settle for a GED later on in life?
I’m sure many people love to hang around someone as positive and polite as you. To make an assumption about a large group of people is completely insensitive. I graduated from Bapst and haven’t been exiled from the city of Bangor quite yet. You’re right though, parents should take note and hope their children don’t turn into a hardo, but instead become an ignorant BDN commenter.
Based on the spelling and basic quality of your post, I’d be thrilled if my students went to Bapst because it’s clearly not where you went.
the name of the school is JOHN BAPST MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL, not Bapts..and i have never talked to anyone that ever went to Bapst that thought they were any better than anyone from say Orono, where most of the Doctor’s and Lawyer’s around here send their kids….I am not sure what a Hardo is, nor am i particularly interested in what it is. I do know that as a 1986 graduate of John Bapst, i am very proud of the school i went to, the education they gave me and what they stand for.
Glad you got a private education on the tax payers dime. Wonder if your parents would have sacrificed their own money to send you there if they had to pay the full tuition instead of the tax payers in the town you lived.
Are you just commenting on everyone’s post and saying the same thing about the school being elitist? COOL MAN.
Excuse me? My parents paid and continue paying taxes in Glenburn which paid for me to go to school there, so you take your free comments and well i am sure i dont need to tell ya what you can do with them. The town paid for the tuition of its residents through our TAXES….
Taxes per year that your parents paid was lets say 3500 the tuition is currently 9750. Math does not work.
You clearly don’t understand how this all works. The vast majority of students that attend Bapst come from surrounding communities that do not have their own high school. In that event, the student generally has school choice and the town pays that school the tution via property taxes just as it would if the student attended the town’s own school for “free” if it had one. Either way, the tuition is paid for via the parent’s property taxes. If the student lives in Brewer, Bangor, Orono, Hampden, etc., then the parents pay full tuition since their taxes already fund a high school. Not really a hard concept to grasp. For fiscal year 2012, Brewer High School Non-resident tuition is $7805, Bangor is $8832, and Bapst is $9750. State average cost per pupil is $8,832.93. The town pays whichever school the student chooses the above referenced amount. Furthermore, they are limited by an enrollment cap due to building capacity, which allows some selectivity in admissions. Truly, it is a “semi-private” school. Wouldn’t you want to go to a better school for slightly more money? I’m convinced the people that put down Bapst are either envious, ignorant, jealous, or angry at their own education, or some combination. We have a great school in our backyard, why the anger?
Why is the press release just reprinted? Where is the actual newstory on this? Is there too much other news going on in the bustling state of Maine? John Bapst actually is in Bangor, where the BDN headquarters is. Not like it’s worth reporting on or anything……….
Although I do agree that Bapst is a wonderful school, I do wonder just how hard it is to be considered a top school when you can hand pick the best of the best students from all over. No low scorers, no special education students. It’s not too difficult to be great when you harbor the cream of the crop within your walls.
On the taxpayers back. If you want to avoid the state rules avoid the state money.
Although the formula by which Bapst obtained this ranking could be challenged in some particulars, overall it’s a lot more scientific than the repeated claims of, say, several small campuses of the UMaine System that each is among the foremost schools in its respective category in US News rankings–always leaving out the larger truth that UME-Farmington is NOT really being put in the same category as, say, Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby. They are in totally separate categories, but the pr folks, not surprisingly, never concede that. And at least it’s not the ridiculous boasting for at least two years now of the UMaine Business College that it ranks among the top 1000 (1) b-schools in the world! As if they are even 1000 such schools and as if such a huge no. represents anything.
Somebody tell LePage…..apparently not all of Maine’s students are idiots.
Who said Maine kids don’t excel.
Go Crusaders!
Regardless of your personal thoughts on Bapst or the legitimacy of this assessment, the fact that it’s a Bangor school speaks volumes for our communities success.
I am an alumni of Bapst, and I lived in Bangor for my school years and still do, which meant none of my parents tax dollars paid for my education. My family paid for my tuition. The towns that do not have a high school have to pay the town to which their child attends a certain amount to cover the cost, just like every tax paying citizen in that town does and a percentage of their taxes goes towards the education department.
At John Bapst, education is FIRST and FOREMOST, sports is second. THAT is their success and the parents back the school on this 100%. Respect, morals and ethics are also incorporated in their teachings that each student will carry on with them long into adulthood.
I am proud to wear my purple and white.
Eat it, LePage.