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EHS Earns Silver Educational Ranking
EHS honor
Honored in 2015 as one of the best high schools nationwide, Escalon High has again achieved Silver status for 2016, and hopes to add another banner to the collection. This one is in the main hallway at EHS. Marg Jackson/The Times

For the third time in four years, Escalon High School has received national recognition from US News and World Report.

Escalon Unified School District officials were notified this past week that EHS has been awarded a Silver ranking and is among not only the best high schools in the state, but also has been recognized nationwide.

“When we first received this recognition four years ago, I had to do a little research myself to find out what it was all about,” explained Escalon High School Principal Dave Lattig. “They take the school’s API ranking from the state, they factor in the number of students, your percentage overall, who take an AP exam, and another criteria is the number of students who take that exam and score a 3 or higher.”

Also utilized is the school’s College Readiness Index, a barometer of how well the school is preparing its students for higher education.

Schools can be rated as Gold, Silver or Bronze and Escalon has maintained the Silver ranking it received in 2015.

“There are a thousand school districts in the state, some of them have multiple high schools, there are hundreds and hundreds of high schools in the state,” noted EUSD Superintendent Ron Costa.

Escalon was rated in the top 10 percent of high schools in the state, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

“I think it’s an excellent indicator of the hard work of both our staff and students,” Costa added. “When people see the schools in this area that have made this list, there are eight or 10, maybe, out of a five-county area, that are on it. That speaks pretty highly of this district.”

Both Costa and Lattig agreed that it’s often hard to get recognition for academic programs, but Escalon is making some noise in that arena.

“There are a lot of college prep academies, a lot of charter schools,” Lattig said of competing as a public school with those specialized districts. “It’s an honor to be listed.”

The school currently has its 2015 ‘Silver’ banner hanging in the main hallway at the high school and Lattig said they likely will get another for the 2016 recognition.