QUAKER VALLEY
Quaker Valley High
School Ranked #1 in
Southwestern PA
by U.S. News & World
Report
QUA KER VAL L E Y SC H OO L DI S TRI C T N E WS
ewickley Area
Quaker Valley High School is proud to
be ranked #1 among high schools in
Southwestern PA, according to the
rankings released by U.S. News & World
Report. Quaker Valley High School ranks
sixth in PA and 485 nationally, out of more
than 21,500 high schools.
U.S. News & World Report gave
national recognition to the top 6,218 high
schools that graduate their students at
rates 15 percent higher, on average, than
other schools across the country. QVHS
earned a gold medal- the highest of three
medals awarded to 500 of those top
schools representing the top three
percent of high schools in the nation.
“This recognition is a reflection of Quaker
Valley’s continued commitment to providing all
students with a high quality education. We’re
proud of our efforts to nurture and challenge all
QV students to think and grow as learners,” says
Deborah Riccobelli, QVHS Principal.
U.S. News & World Report uses a four-step
process to determine the Best High Schools. The
first three steps ensure the schools serve all
students well, using scores from the math and
reading sections of state proficiency tests and
graduation rates as the benchmarks. For those
schools that make it past the first three steps, a
fourth step is used to assess the degree to
which schools prepare students for collegelevel work.
“A high school education is imperative for
success in both college and a career, and a
school’s graduation rate is a key indicator of
whether students are being effectively
prepared for both paths,” says Anita Narayan,
managing editor of Education at U.S. News.
“This honor represents the collective
achievements of our entire school community,
our students, their parents, our educators, the
school board and a long-standing
commitment to education,” adds Quaker Valley
Superintendent, Dr. Heidi Ondek.
iBike@QV
iBike@QV is looking for volunteers for the
upcoming iBike@QV camp. There will be two,
week-long sessions this year held June 13-17
QVHS Students
Receive Study
Abroad
Scholarships
Two QVHS students received U.S.
State Department National Security
Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)
scholarships. Audrey Houser and
Emily Watters have been awarded
this highly competitive summer study
abroad opportunity. Houser will be
going to Korea to study Korean, and
Watters will be going to Moldova to
study to Russian.
The program provides merit-based
scholarships for eligible high school
students and recent high school
graduates to learn less commonly
taught languages in summer and
academic-year overseas immersion
programs.
NSLI-Y is part of a U.S. government
initiative that prepares American citizens
to be leaders in a global world. Now
54 Sewickley Area
Audrey Houser and Emily Watters
more than ever, it is important that
Americans have the necessary linguistic
skills and cultural knowledge to promote
international dialogue and support
American engagement abroad. NSLI-Y aims
to provide opportunities to American youth
that will spark a lifetime interest in language
learning.