SAT Success

I've enjoyed Daniel Pink's two books, Drive, and A Whole New Mind. He also has a nice blog and website as well. He recently wrote about the connection between socioeconomic status and SAT scores - pretty fascinating stuff. I'd be interested in a few case studies of some outliers - what accounts for a student from a low socioeconomic background who scores well?

Where are the bigger Lutheran high schools? - Part II

My latest post listed the top 20 Lutheran high schools (enrollment) in the United States. 

Set aside the debate whether a "successful" Lutheran high school should be measured by size for a second and entertain the question of "What gets you in the top twenty?"  In other words, "What is the formula for having an LHS over 240 students?"

My theory has always been that if an LHS has a student body well under 50% Lutheran, that it must have perfect demographic location (surrounding neighborhoods can afford tuition, lack of direct competition) for it to survive long-term.  A subjective glance of the schools on the list show, I believe, five schools that are well below 50% Lutheran: Las Vegas, Long Island, Tomball, Houston, and Lutheran High School in Parker - all have excellent locations.

The golden ticket of enrollment, of course, is to have both great demographic location AND a large Lutheran pond to fish in.

Where are the bigger Lutheran high schools?

Currently, LHS's enrollment stands at 241 students.  Ever wonder about the 19 Lutheran high schools in America that are bigger than the Lutheran High School in Parker?  Here you go:

CA Lutheran High School of Orange County (Orange) 1309
NV Las Vegas Faith Lutheran High School 714
IN Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School 681
WI Milwaukee Lutheran High School 622
CA Crean Lutheran High School (Irvine) 544
MI Lutheran High School North (Macomb) 541
MO Lutheran High School South (St. Louis) 538
OH Lutheran High School West (Rocky River) 440
TX Concordia Lutheran High School (Tomball) 435
NY Long Island Lutheran High School 407
IL Rockford Lutheran High School 397
IL Walther Lutheran High School (Melrose Park) 348
MN Concordia Academy-Roseville 346
MI Valley Lutheran High School (Saginaw) 343
MO Lutheran High School North (St. Louis) 316
WI Martin Luther High School (Greendale) 311
MI Lutheran High School Northwest (Rochester Hills) 297
MO Lutheran High School of St. Charles Co. (St. Peters) 294
TX Lutheran South Academy (Houston) 286
CO Lutheran High School (Parker) 241

More on this later . . .

Beware of the AP Myth . . .

I blogged previously about the problems with AP (Advanced Placement) classes. A recent Denver Post article backed-up what we've seen to be true at Lutheran High for years. Students need not have an entire transcript of AP classes. I suspect that colleges, while certainly admiring students who challenge themselves, continue to look for those students who "stand out," which I believe is the point that the article is ultimately trying to make.

I recently had this conversation with a parent whose student was trying to decide between LHS and another school that could offer the "full AP experience."  I wonder if most parents know what that really means?