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ALPENA — U.S. News and World Report ranked Alpena High School in the top 18% of high schools in the state and in the top 25% nationally, according to a Wednesday press release from Alpena Public Schools.

This occurs despite their ranking system changing to more heavily weighted speculative measures like college readiness scores while ignoring the concrete results that AHS students earned more than 3,000 college credits last year.

AHS is ranked 210 out of 1,136 high schools in Michigan, which includes both ranked and unranked high schools in Michigan. Schools without a grade 12 or with very small enrollment are displayed as unranked, according to U.S. News and World Report. All private high schools are not ranked because of limitations in publicly available data.

AHS is ranked 6,010 out of 24,140 high schools in the nation, including ranked and unranked schools.

U.S News and World Report has named Alpena High School to the list several times in the past and also awarded AHS for the tremendous volume of opportunities to earn college credit while still in high school.

“Despite Northeast Michigan’s struggles with the highest child poverty rates in Michigan and Alpena County being ranked in the bottom 10 counties in the state for overall poverty, Alpena Public Schools continues to shine at both the state and national levels for the ability to build pathways for students to overcome economic hurdles to reach their educational and career goals,” the press release from APS stated.

“We work so hard to create an environment where students really want to be here,” AHS Principal Romeo Bourdage said. “I am elated. We’re talking top 25% in the nation.”

Bourdage echoed the economic struggles that students in Northeast Michigan face and how the ranking underscores just how hard students and staff are working to overcome those barriers.

The ranking isn’t about the high school or the teachers, Bourdage said. He said all APS staff, including custodians, lunch attendants, and bus drivers, made this ranking possible. He added that it starts with teachers at the elementary school level that are giving kids the confidence to succeed once they hit high school.

“Alpena High School has amazing opportunities available for students like dual enrollment, Alpena Early College, Advanced Placement and Career and Technical Education,” APS Communications Director Lee Fitzpatrick said in the press release. “We align closely with our partners at Alpena Community College to serve as a pathway toward economic growth and future prosperity for this region of the state.”

“We need to focus on the positive and all that great things that are happening,” Bourdage said. “That’s what the community can do.”

Teachers will continue to support student growth and keep AHS a highly ranked school by utilizing data from standardized tests and other sources to improve student outcomes and instruction techniques, Bourdage said. The district’s strategic plan will help guide work on the administrative side as well, which will benefit teachers and students.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.