Madison among America’s ‘Best Places to Grow Up’

HUNTSVILLE, AL — U.S. News and World Report magazine has dubbed Madison as America’s second-best place to grow up.

  Madison Mayor Paul Finley was among the local leaders who celebrated the ranking Friday at the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

“Honors like this continue to validate what a wonderful community we live in,” Finley said.

The magazine analyzed about 2,000 different communities based on low crime rate, strong school system, among of green space and family events present, and number of children in the area.

Virginia Beach, Va. topped the list. The other communities, in order of ranking, are: San Jose, Calif.; Overland Park, Kan.; Boston; Denver; Rochester, Minn.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Plano, Texas, and Edison, N.J.

When we say the schools in Athens are good, we may be blowing our own horn… but we’re not whistling Dixie.

It’s hard to judge schools in North Alabama without first educating yourself.  Just look at the facts, the average ACT score for the 12th Grade Students at Athens High School is 22.3. For the past five years 99-100% of AHS Seniors have passed the Alabama High School Graduation Exam.  Athens City Schools also spend more per student than any school district within 65 miles of Redstone Arsenal and over 80% of our students go on to college.  It would be hard to argue that when it comes to a good education in North Alabama, Athens City Schools make the grade and then some.

Bob Jones and Grissom ranked in the top public schools in the nation

Newsweek Magazine released its annual list of Americas top public high scholls and this week and we are very proud that our community had 2 local high schools making this influential list. Grissom High School which supports the Southeast Huntsville area came in at number 927 and Bob Jones High School supporting the Madison City Limits area was named number 1,320 on the elite 1,500 member list.

While the rankings may seem large due to their magnitude, the list actually represents only the top 6% of public high schools across the nation according to Newsweek.  Newsweek’s selection criteria are based on ratios of advanced placement and college preparatory tests along with the number of graduating seniors.