05/11/12 After being recognized by U.S. News and World Report as two of the “Best High Schools 2012”, Argos Jr.-Sr. High School and Triton Jr.-Sr. High School prove that good things really do come in small packages. Triton has an enrollment of 508 students with 27 teachers while Argos has 305 students and 20 teachers.

Argos was awarded a silver recognition after being designated 22nd out of 100 Indiana schools. Additionally they rank in the top ten percent of schools nationwide hitting number 1,817 of the nearly 22, 000 high schools reviewed.

Argos principal, Jennifer Lucht, said they were proud when they received bronze status two years ago and even prouder to be named a silver winner this year. Statewide, two schools were named “gold”, 27 were designated as “silver” and 73 received recognition at the bronze level.

Lucht said, “Since we are a smaller school, students are not lost as individuals.” She added that several parents of current students also graduated from Argos High School, creating a more “family life” atmosphere.

Lucht said, “We have smaller class sizes and up to date technology, but we still have a personalized approach.” “That is a huge advantage.” Lucht said. She also pointed to the fact that all Argos School students-elementary through high school- are housed in one building. She said, “We really do know our kids.”

Triton Jr.-Sr. High School Principal Michael Chobanov shared the news with all of their staff saying, “Many long hours of hard work in planning, preparing, teaching, and analyzing of data are why these awards are possible.” “What a better gift to give on “Teacher Appreciation Week” that you deserve.” he said.

Only schools ranked in the “gold’ or “silver” classifications are assigned a rank.

In 2009, Triton was named as one of the “Best of the Best” schools by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Information on the U.S. News website says: “Indiana high school students follow the “Core 40” curriculum of required credits, which include social studies classes such as world history and economics. Students are assessed in Algebra I, Biology I, and English through the ISTEP+ end -of –Course Assessments. Indiana has 316 districts, 379 high schools, 19,051 full-time teachers, and 339, 715 enrolled students.

Ranking number one in Indiana was Signature School, Evansville with an enrollment of 303. The charter school also ranked 35 nationwide. They scored 100 percent proficiency in English, 100 percent proficiency in algebra and 93.8 percent on the college readiness index.

Carol Anders Correspondent