Naperville North is kind of a big deal; Newsweek ranked the school at an impressive No. 58 for best high schools in the country this past August, thirty-seven spots ahead of its rival school Naperville Central.

Newsweek has a specific criteria in order to judge how well a high school is performing, including student ratio, average ACT score, average AP test score and student retention.

NNHS not only ranked as a top high school in terms of academics, but also in terms of resiliency. Another Newsweek ranking called “Beating the Odds” analyzed schools on how their low income students performed.  In this category, NNHS was ranked #116.

Principal Stephanie Posey felt the results of the study were encouraging.

“It’s always nice to be recognized for good work. Obviously this is a high honor for the school, and it certainly speaks well of the students and the community,” Posey said.

For NNHS students, the results reinforced what they already knew to be true of the school. Senior Judy Pendergast said this was a nod towards the hard work that they have put in throughout their high school career.

“I thought it was nice to see how we are compared to other schools in the nation. It’s cool to think about, because we know this school is competitive, and it’s helpful to see the rankings and see how our hard work pays off,” Pendergast said.

As satisfying as it is to be lauded for success, there are some who do not feel the same excitement, such as Social Studies Teacher Jeff Bedore.

“It’s nice to get the affirmation, but it doesn’t say anything profound about us, nor does it mean that any school that is lower than us on the list is a ‘bad’ school,” Bedore said.

Bedore also felt that the study did not take into account what he felt were key parts to the educational system, which limited the results of the study.

“Education is not a factory, so you really can’t measure things the way this study purports,” Bedore said. “Everything that we do involves the human equation to the extent that it’s non-quantifiable.”

Despite the success, NNHS can continue to improve in Bedore’s opinion. He thinks many of the students who are high-achieving have what they need to succeed; however, this does not necessarily hold true for everyone who attends NNHS.

“We need to reach out to the kids that struggle more… We need to find ways to reach them more,” Bedore said. “The other thing is that we need to calm this environment down…The emphasis that you guys have on grades and the equation with the (grade) and your self worth is tragic.”

Posey also felt that NNHS could always find ways to make progress, especially closing the gap in success between all students.

“High tide raises the levels of all the boats,” Posey said. “We can’t allow any segment of our population to be any less successful than the rest.”