Niche Puts Arcadia High at the Top of the Class in Its 2019 rankings

Arcadia High has a rich and proud heritage for academic and athletic performance. – Courtesy photo / Prayitno (CC BY 2.0)

A recent report listing America’s “Best Public High Schools” saw Arcadia High School included within the top 1 percent of all U.S. public high schools. Niche.com’s list places Arcadia in the top 1 percent bracket of more than 19,000 public high schools, giving Arcadia a highly-acclaimed national honor. Arcadia was also placed in the top 1 percent of the leading public high schools in the California state and within the Los Angeles boundary.

Overall, Arcadia High achieved an “A+” grade in the eyes of Niche.com, among a host of other top placements in national, state and local categories. Parents will be particularly interested to hear that Arcadia was ranked in the top 1 percent for the “Best Public High School Teachers” throughout the U.S. and in the California and Los Angeles regions. Dr. Brent Forsee, principal at Arcadia High School, said that Arcadia’s “teachers, counselors, and staff take great pride in making sure all of our students feel prepared, heard, and inspired through their high school journey and in their post-high school endeavors”.

Arcadia grads primed for Ivy League schools

Aside from its impressive Niche.com rankings, Arcadia High has also celebrated being listed as a U.S. News and World Report Gold Medal School on three separate occasions. These medals have only been awarded three times to fewer than 3 percent of the nation’s public high schools. Last year, Arcadia’s students boasted a 100 percent graduation rate, with various graduates securing places at prestigious colleges such as Yale, MIT, Stanford and many other Ivy League schools.

Arcadia Apaches excel across a host of sports

Arcadia High School is also home to some of America’s best young sporting talent, with a quintet of seniors selected for top university sports programs, including the NCAA’s baseball and volleyball leagues. However, no Arcadia students were enrolled in NCAA basketball programs this year. The NCAA basketball championship is tipped to be a one-horse race involving the Duke Blue Devils in 2019, with Duke University going in search of their sixth NCAA crown.

The girls’ Arcadia High tennis team achieved consecutive CIF championship crowns in the doubles in 2017 and 2018, while the school’s boys’ badminton team also achieved CIF championship success in the doubles in 2017. Two Arcadia High athletes from the Class of 2018 were also invited to train with the track and field teams of Columbia and Yale University. The Arcadia Invitational is still regarded as the largest high school track event throughout the U.S. It has played host to a string of Olympians in the past, notably Quincy Watts, Steve Lewis and Danny Everett, Mike Powell, Marion Jones and Australia’s Cathy Freeman.

Arcadia’s Invitational event has also been a great breeding ground for some hugely talented football stars, with Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver Robert Woods and USC’s wide receiver Marqise Lee both demonstrating their potential on the biggest local stage at Arcadia. Last month, Arcadia’s baseball team opened up their 2019 campaign with a hugely encouraging win at the Inland Valley Baseball Tournament, defeating the Etiwanda Eagles with ease 9-2 to take the championship. This victory was all the more impressive when you consider the Arcadia Apaches were up against Eagles ace Matthew Bardowell, who is a USC-commit.

The top 20 high school baseball rankings, as listed by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News and Whittier Daily News, places the Arcadia Apaches at the top of the pile, commenting on their eight-game unbeaten run, including two recent victories over the Burbank Bulldogs. Meanwhile Arcadia High’s football team was denied its first ever CIF-SS title after being defeated by a last-play field goal against the Kaiser Cats. The 38-35 defeat secured a fourth sectional title for Kaiser and left Arcadia licking their wounds after a great season.

Arcadia’s commitment to academics as well as its athletes

Aside from Arcadia’s recent sporting achievements, the school also offers a host of academic opportunities for its students, with clubs encouraging the development of “future business leaders of America,” as well as teams focusing on robotics, physics, math and science. In short, the school is committed to giving both its academic and athletic students every possible chance to grow as individuals.

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