SHS highlights achievements

SANDPOINT — Numbers show Sandpoint High School is one of the highest-performing Idaho high schools in its size category, according to school representatives.

SHS Principal Becky Meyer shared the school’s achievements with the Lake Pend Oreille School Board Tuesday, another presentation in a series of district school reports. According to the most recent data, Meyer said Sandpoint High School is doing very well considering its size and resources.

“For what we have at Sandpoint High School, what we achieve and what we offer students is phenomenal,” Meyer said.

This was reinforced by a recent accreditation process the school is undergoing to ease the credit transfer process for college-bound students.

According to representatives of AdvanceED, an education organization assisting in the accreditation process, the high school performed excellently in categories like educational quality and teaching/learning impact.

As a result, the school is well on its way to earning accreditation next year, Meyer said.

“(Our AdvancedED representative) told us these were some of the highest scores he’d seen,” she added.

That doesn’t change the school’s primary goals, which have always been to increase student achievement, improve graduation and college readiness rates and provide professional development for staff.

One of the school’s goals is to keep kids in class and on the path toward graduation. To that end, the school has been maintaining intervention classes for at-risk students and allows a flexible scheduling process for students. SHS personnel have been putting a Go On Idaho grant from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation. When students do choose to leave the school, personnel conduct exit interviews to learn what could be done better. The school also avoids sending students home as a disciplinary measure in favor of in-school punishments, leading to one of the lowest suspension rates in the state.

“We don’t send students home unless there’s blood, drugs and alcohol or weapons,” Meyer said.

 Student achievement has also landed well above average, contributing to the high school’s five-star ranking. Test results show 95 percent of students meet or exceed standards in reading, 81.5 percent in language usage, 91.3 percent in math and 84 percent in science.

Sandpoint High School is also taking pains to offer as many college readiness options as possible, Meyer said. The school offers Advanced Placement classes, pre-Advanced Placement classes and dual credit offerings.

For students planning on attending a trade school or apprenticeship, several professional training courses are also available. Meyer sees exciting possibilities on these fronts through partnerships with the North Idaho College’s expanding local presence.

“Typically, there aren’t this many (college readiness and technical training) options for a high school of this size,” she said.