By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – All girl high schools dominate Business First's top ten list of private schools, claiming six of the top spots. And an obscure Jewish Day school in Williamsville once again topped the list of private elementary schools.
Nardin Academy, an all girl high school in Buffalo, comes in number one for the second year on the top ten list. And Mount Saint Mary Academy, another all girl school in Kenmore, moved up a few notches from four to number two. The all-male St. Joeseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore came in third.
But Nardin Academy surpassed all 17 schools evaluated, in several areas. Seventy percent of their graduates received superior regents scores. Ninety-three percent received regents diplomas. And every one of Nardin's 114 graduates went on to four year colleges. Nardin Principal Rebecca Reeder says that's to be expected.
"We are strictly a college prep school and most of the time, virtually one hundred percent of them will go to college," said Reeder. "We might have a few years, here and there, where one or two may opt to do something else. But that's pretty standard for us."
Reeder and some other private school officials say the rankings are a boost to their recruitment efforts. The Kadimah School of Buffalo hopes to benefit from its second year as the number one elementary school. The Jewish Day school in Williamsville has only 150 pupils. Headmaster Mark Stolovitsky says they'd like to grow. But he says being a small school also has its benefits.
"I've often said this is almost like a rural school in the city, because we all know each other and we do care for each other," said Stolovitsky. "And we have tremendously committed teachers and parents and I'm very grateful."
Some highly successful private schools were absent from the list. Schools such as Canisius, Nichols, the Park School and Buffalo Seminary don't participate in state testing.
Business First uses a formula based on three years of regents tests to rank Western New York schools. A special edition of the newspaper, with the complete school rankings, is available Friday.