Five area high schools among state's top 100

Standardized test scores at St. Charles North High School and St. Charles East High School jumped from last year, pushing them up in the rankings among the top 100 high schools in Illinois, as calculated by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Those schools join Batavia, Geneva and Waubonsie Valley high schools in the top 100.

For a decade, the Sun-Times has based its exclusive rankings of schools on average scores on state achievement tests, not on the percentage who meet state standards -- a measure that's come under criticism.

Only 2009 reading and math results from the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests and the Prairie State Achievement Exams taken last March and April were analyzed. Results in those subjects can trigger sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Results from St. Charles North students' tests placed the school 18th in Sun-Times rankings, up four notches from last year. That put the school one ahead of Geneva High School.

Kim Zupec, principal of North, said the reason behind the school's success is mainly a "well-grounded staff, which truly believes in and celebrates with their kids."

"We became better at teaching, and our kids became better at learning," she said.

The school uses a "student-first" attitude, whether that's through study halls centered on tutoring or the insertion of standardized test questions into the regular curriculum.

St. Charles East wasn't far behind its crosstown rival. Its state math and reading scores put it in 29th place in the newspaper rankings, 25 places higher than last year.

Robert Miller, the principal of East, said its accomplishment is simple: "We targeted the deficiencies from the previous school year."

On top of that, he said, East increased an already-high attendance rate, promoted more interaction among teachers, counselors and parents, and bumped up its graduation rate.

Batavia was ranked 46th and Waubonsie Valley High School was ranked 68th by the Sun-Times. Northside College Prepatory High School in Chicago finished first in the Sun-Times rankings.