Aspire has been recognized in a list of America's best high schools by U.S. News & World Report.

Benjamin Holt College Preparatory Academy, Aspire’s secondary schools in the Central Valley, was given a bronze medal by the nationally published magazine, which surveyed 21,069 schools in 48 states, recognizing 1,321 as the nation’s best.

The Benjamin Holt Academy is chartered by Lodi Unified and offers college-level courses on campus, taught by college professors. It has 500 students in sixth through 12th grades.

“The award is a credit to each student and teacher" Ben Holt Principal Gretchen Salvetti said. "It’s an affirmation that we’re doing the right thing."

U.S. News & World Report's methodology for the awards was based on how well the schools served students, standardized test scores and a range of other performance indicators.

"We compared each school's math and reading proficiency rates for disadvantaged students with the statewide results for these disadvantaged student groups and then selected schools that were performing better than this state average," the magazine states on its Web site.

Schools were then ranked based on how well they prepare students for college. “Our first graduation class earned over 400 college credits,” Gretchen shares, adding, “Last year, our graduation class earned over 900 credits.” Gretchen connects Holt’s achievement to Jim Collin’s premise that having the right people on the bus is instrumental in going from good to great. “Liz O’Dell’s ability to schedule courses and Alex Hernandez’s connections with colleges added to the contributions of our entire staff,” making twofold college credit growth possible despite graduating cohorts of similar size.

In California, 1,999 schools were surveyed, and 209 received bronze or better, the report states. “We are a work in progress,” said Gretchen, “but this award has given us a real boost with increased applications and awareness of our school.”

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