Grain Valley High School Makes National List of Most Challenging High Schools... Again

Grain Valley is named to the Washington Post's list of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools” for the 3rd year in a row. 

Grain Valley High School is ranked in the top five percent of public high schools in the United States, 12th in the state of Missouri, and 2nd among Missouri schools in the Kansas City Metro Area behind Park Hill High School.

Rankings are based on the total number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduate in May. The list also looks at ACT scores, Advanced Placement scores (the percentage of seniors who score a “3” or higher on at least one exam), and free and reduced lunch numbers.

Jay Mathews compiles the list for the Washington Post. He states the significance of Advanced Placement courses, “AP, IB and AICE are important because they give average students a chance to experience… heavy college reading list and long, analytical college examinations. Research has found that even low-performing students who got a “2” on an AP test did significantly better in college than similar students who did not take AP.”

This honor is the third national recognition for Grain Valley Schools in the past 2 years. Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report have also recognized Grain Valley High School as a top U.S. high school for preparing students for college.

Please check outhttp://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/ for the full list of rankings and additional articles.

Grain Valley to Join Suburban Conference in 2018

The Grain Valley School District was notified earlier today of being accepted into the Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference by the Suburban Conference Executive Committee, beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. This change affects middle school and high school activities.

The District wrote to the Suburban Conference Executive Committee in February requesting consideration to be admitted. The Suburban Conference currently has 25 member high schools that are organized into four color-coded divisions. Grain Valley can expect to be placed with similar-sized schools in the Blue Division, which currently includes Belton, Grandview, Kearney, Platte County, Raytown South, and Winnetonka.

Grain Valley High School has experienced rapid growth in recent years, which led to the decision to request admission into the Suburban Conference. Grain Valley High School has 1150 students at this time, up from 636 students in 2005 and 450 in 2000. 

Grain Valley has become the largest high school in the Missouri River Valley Conference (MRVC) since joining in 2004. Prior to the MRVC, Grain Valley was in the Show-Me West Conference.

Grain Valley Activities Director Mike Tarrants says transitioning to the Suburban Conference is the next natural step for the growing school district. "As we grow, we become more like the suburban conference schools. We already play many of these schools as non-conference scheduling opponents now.” Tarrants adds, “the ability to change conferences at this time reflects the support of our community in making necessary facility upgrades in recent years."

Suburban Conference Executive Director Bob Glasgow says there is much enthusiasm around the inclusion of Grain Valley into the Suburban Conference. "Grain Valley is a natural fit for us in bringing their competitive and progressive programs into the conference. This move is a win-win."

Admitting Grain Valley contributes to the goal of the Suburban Conference to expand. 

Superintendent of Schools for Grain Valley, Dr. Roy Moss, affirms that this is a win for all schools involved. "We appreciate the MRVC for the many years of working so closely and for understanding our need to seek a change. We look forward to the new opportunities this change holds."

Planning for a change that is two years away will allow all districts impacted by the change to plan accordingly.