The Great Neck high schools’ top Newsweek rankings are something to be proud of, but they are not something to hold with high regard.
We live in a numbers-obsessed society, but numbers mean little when it comes to putting a price tag on one’s education. The Great Neck schools offer students opportunities to be great, beyond taking AP classes and doing well on standardized tests.
As a community we understand this, but fail to recognize it by submitting to these rankings, which fail to holistically evaluate education. Schools can choose to not submit the data necessary to be ranked. Unfortunately, we continue to give them merit when they deserve little to none. Consequently, students at both high schools continuously discuss the rankings, believing they accurately valuate the great learning experiences they have.
We have award-winning music programs, theatre programs, science research programs, newspapers, a world-class robotics team, and so many more superior opportunities that our district provides and students are taking advantage of.
Still, we allow magazines to use their bogus methods to evaluate the quality of our schools. We are better than that. We must set a precedent. We must refocus our numbers-obsessed culture. We must abandon these rankings.
Zak Malamed
Great Neck South High School
