Recently, Newsweek released its 2013 list of America’s Best High Schools. Surprisingly, Garden City High School found its rank slip from 107 in 2012 to 139 this year. I’d tell you what the schematics were in determining where the Trojans landed, but unfortunately the area on the web page that shows this is a dead link. Undoubtedly, the combination of the core curriculum and significantly more difficult standardized testing were some of the contributing factors, as it was for districts around New York State. The Garden City Union Free School District still managed to score high despite these obstacles, even if students didn’t score as high as they have in prior years. That said, the Garden City student body continues to rack up significant academic achievements that will carry them far in life and make them productive members of their generation.
Look no further than the 2013 Adelphi University Leadership Awards, which was recently bestowed on eight Garden City High School students. This award is “the result of a partnership between Adelphi University and the Garden City community which recognizes students not just for scholarship, but truly for leadership, for being part of our community and really living the words in our slogan: ‘Building community’,” explained Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen at the Oct. 16 board of education regular meeting where the announcement was made. It’s these kinds of accomplishments that reinforce the idea that the Garden City School District is doing something right and that maybe, just maybe, standardized test scores needn’t wind up as the be all and end all when it comes to how well a student is doing in school.
— By Dave Gil de Rubio
