Grant Union High School

JOHN DAY – Grant Union High School received a bronze in U.S. News and World Report magazine’s rankings of Best High Schools in the nation … for the third consecutive year.

“It’s an elite ranking and it’s nice to get,” said Principal Curt Shelley.

He noted the teachers are doing more and more to prepare students for state testing, and it’s their work that is placing Grant Union in a category above other schools in Eastern Oregon and across the state.

Schools in neighboring counties found on the magazine’s list included: Crane Union High School, Nyssa High School, Heppner Junior/Senior High School, McLoughlin High School (Milton-Freewater) and Pine Eagle High School (Halfway) – all receiving bronze rankings.

There were 33 Oregon high schools in all ranking at bronze or silver, however, none reached the gold status.

Judges of the contest look at more than 21,000 public high schools across the U.S. – 100 are ranked gold.

Statistics in the report for Grant Union, which listed an enrollment of 254, include a state test performance index of 89.8 percent and economically disadvantaged students at 42.8 percent.

Shelley noted that the bar has risen significantly for student testing in the last 15 years.

“The staff has higher and higher expectations each year,” he said. “I commend the staff and they need to have the accolades for the bronze award that we received.”