Ranks in Top 35 public high schools
By Colleen Gundlach

When Northwestern Regional School 7 was rated by Connecticut Magazine
among the top 35 public high schools in the state, proud parents, students
and educators began passing the magazine around and pointing to this honor.
Northwestern principal Wayne Conner, however, took the news in stride.
He noted that, while being number 25 is very good and he is proud of that,
the numbers that produced the ranking are almost two years old. “We are
now much better than that.”

Connecticut Magazine used data from the “Strategic High School Profiles
2006-07” published by the state Department of Education, the most recent
data produced by the state. The magazine was seeking schools with “the
greatest percentage of motivated students, along with faculty and staff that
seemed to do the best job of college preparation.” They based their ranking
on Advanced Placement (AP) courses, Connecticut Academic Performance
Testing (CAPT), Scholastic Aptitude Testing (SAT), the percentage of
graduating seniors who immediately went on to college, and the percentage
of the school’s professional staff with a master’s degree or above.
Northwestern was at or above state level in all testing categories, and
significantly above state average in all CAPT areas.
“Our students have done so well in the past two years, that we would be in
the Top 10,” says Conner, if the ranking were done now. He explains that
since CAPT testing has been tied by the state to graduation requirements, the
school as a whole has reached or exceeded its goals.
Board of Education Chairman, Schuyler Thomson, agrees. “An average of
the past two to three years would give a better view of the actual ranking”,
Thomson says. “last year was outstanding.”
The AP program is an intensive series of college level courses and
examinations sponsored by the College Board.  Through AP exams, students
have the opportunity to earn credit or advanced standing at many colleges
and universities.  These exams assess the degree of learning on a scale of
one to five, with five being the highest.  A score of three has been the
standard many colleges use to determine placement and the awarding of
credit.  Some schools are currently looking at a score of four to be the new
standard.  "We're not satisfied with threes any longer", says Conner.  "Our

goal is to increase the number of students attaining scores of four and five on
these rigorous assessments. Last year, 55 percent of our AP students scored
a four or better".
Conner refers to the numbers to emphasise his point. Four years ago, 59
students took 96 AP exams. This year, 89 students took 129 exams, with
scores averaging 4.6 in calculus, 4.3 in biology, 4.2 in European history, 4.2
in politics, 3.4 in language and 3.0 in literature. Of the 18 students in AP
calculus last year, all of them scored four or five.
In the 2008 SAT scoring, Northwestern was 22 points higher than the state
average overall, 17 points higher in reading, and 38 points higher in math.
Conner, who has been an educator at Northwestern for the past 25 years, the
past five as principal, says that these statistics “are not a fluke.” The school
has been “getting better and better.”
He credits this to a dedicated staff, a strong Board of Education, and also
more parental involvement, making for a “stronger work ethic and more
focused self-discipline.”
Chairman Thomson adds that “there has been a huge commitment among the
faculty, administration and board to encourage the kind of scores we are
seeing. We have a good setup right now.”

Principal Wayne Conner is deservedly proud of the students
and staff of Northwestern Regional 7