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Exclusive Sarasota County School Ranked 6th In U.S.

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By TIFFANY LANKES / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: December 4, 2007

OSPREY - Sarasota's exclusive school for gifted students earned a Top 10 spot in a new U.S. News & World Report ranking of the nation's high schools.

The magazine ranked Pine View School No. 6 of the 19,000 schools included in its analysis. Criteria include standardized test scores, performance of low-income students and whether the school provided rigorous college-level coursework.

"Anytime you are ranked among the best schools in the country, it's a great honor," said Pine View Principal Steve Largo.

Three other Florida schools made it into the Top 10 for the article in the Dec. 10 issue, which is on newsstands now. The others are in Miami, Bartow and Jacksonville.

Pine View is the state's only public school exclusively for gifted children. Students must have an IQ of 130 and go through a testing process to be allowed admission.

Students at Pine View regularly outpace their peers on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which measures student performance in reading, math, science and writing.

The school had 100 percent of its students meeting state targets last year in 10 of the 23 areas of testing. For all the rest, at least 95 percent of students were deemed proficient.

This is not the first time Pine View's strong performance has earned it national recognition.

Last year, Newsweek magazine placed the school on a list of schools it deems too good to be included in its annual high school rankings.

Pine View also was one of the first schools in the state to earn the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon School designation.

The school has become so popular that it may have to cap its enrollment next year for the first time.

Largo said he thought the rankings that include a site visit are more meaningful. But he said staff at Pine View will be finding out more about the schools that placed in the top five, to see whether there is some way to improve.

"Our goal for next year is to be in the championship games," Largo said.

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