Stockton Charter School Named One Of The Best In The Nation
STOCKTON (CBS13) – A Stockton charter school has been named one of the top in the nation.
According to new rankings from U.S. News and World Reports, Stockton Collegiate International Secondary School is the second-best high school in California.
It's also ranked 26th in the country.
They are over the moon about the news, but not terribly surprised.
These new rankings come on the heels of a Washington Post review that said the school has one of the most challenging curriculums for students in the country.
"It's much more rigorous. The expectations are high for our kids," said Principal Scott Luhn.
Those high expectations aren't just being met at Stockton Collegiate, they're being exceeded.
"Our goal is for our kids to go on to four-year colleges and currently it's around 70 percent," Luhn said.
With a strict code of ethics, smaller classrooms and an international approach to education, the charter school is basking in a new title: as one of the nation's elite high schools.
History teacher Manuel Aguilar says the school's IB program makes it stand out.
"What that means is the curriculum that we implement from K-12 is derived from the International Baccalaureate," Aguilar said. "So that curriculum is going to be different from what you would see at a public school."
A broader approach over a multitude of subjects is what other teachers agree helps craft a well-rounded "whole" student – and their numbers back it up. College readiness scores sit at an impressive 96.9 percent.
"Solving real-world problems. We're centered around international mindedness. So we really encourage kids to think about the world and the community they're in," said English teacher Hauna Ziach. "Globally, locally, nationally. A lot of our assessments and assignments revolve around trying to deal with some of those issues."
Stockton Collegiate is also one of the most diverse schools on the national list, with 50 percent of its study body Hispanic.
