Oxford High Ranked Mississippi's Most Challenging High School

Oxford High School (OHS) is ranked the first most challenging high school in the state of Mississippi, according to the Washington Post’s 2014 list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools.
Making the publication’s list for the fourth year in a row reflects the high school’s collected effort to increase the number of OHS students who experience college-level coursework.
The publication ranks schools based on an index formula that compares the total number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school divided by the total number of graduating seniors in a given year. Oxford High School’s 2014 index score is 1.731, earning the high school’s first-place ranking in Mississippi and a rank of 1,418 of out more than 2,000 public, parochial, charter, magnet, and private high schools nationwide. In 2013, OHS was ranked first in the state with an index score of 1.841.
“We want to continue to prepare those students who are willing to be academically challenged and are willing to embrace the rigor of AP classes,” said OHS Principal Mike Martin. “We are preparing our students to learn and work in the 21st century world and part of that is to continue the mindset of being lifelong learners. We want to equip our students with this mindset and to encourage those who have the skill sets to challenge themselves in the classroom and beyond.”
Martin added, “We offer our students 16 AP courses, and our high school has the highest ACT scores in the state of Mississippi. We are allowing students to push themselves academically while exploring a wide array of subjects.”
The Post’s website states that the Challenge Index is designed to identify schools that have done the best job getting average students to take college-level courses and tests. Only nine percent of approximately 22,000 U.S. public high schools managed to reach that standard and earn placement on a list of almost 2,000 schools nationwide.
A new question added to the survey this year reflecting a change in school culture was whether each school has an 11-person football team. The Washington Post covers research that indicates high school sports, including football, gives students valuable time-management and leadership skills.
For more information on Oxford High School, visit www.oxfordsd.org/OHS.
Courtesy Oxford School District