Denison High School ranks among top in the state, nation

On Tuesday, August 29, U.S. News released their 2023 list of the Best High Schools across the nation. Rankings include data on nearly 25,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were ranked on six factors based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college. One of the factors in the ranking process looks at student opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams. 32-percent of DHS students take these AP courses and tests.

“Every year for the past 17 years, Denison High School has ranked high on the list of the best schools in our area, state and nation, and our amazing AP Exam scores play a huge part in that,” said DISD Director of Instruction Shonda Cannon.

Denison High School ranked 398th among high schools in the state of Texas according to the U.S. News report. This places Denison High School in the top 25-percent of Texas high schools and fourth amongst all Grayson County districts.

“This is just a tremendous honor…one we can all be proud of, district-wide and throughout our community, because everyone has contributed to this high level of success,” said DISD Superintendent Dr. David Kirkbride.

According to the Texas Education Agency, Denison High School students must complete the high school foundation program to earn 22 credits. From there, students may also elect to attain a higher number of credits for one of five endorsements including STEM or business and industry. For thousands of Denison ISD students, the choice to partake in these advanced placement courses are not happenstance. They’re carefully discussed, planned and tailored down to the last detail in a wide variety of programs and assemblies that provide information and guidance for students as well as their parents.

“Our teachers and counselors do an outstanding job identifying students who need to enroll in Advanced Placement courses. DHS students took a total of 582 AP exams in 2022 and posted a total of 258 scores that qualify as college credits. These are very significant and meaningful numbers in terms of how well we're preparing our students for future success, said Cannon.

Students preparing to attend Denison High School get the opportunity as eighth graders to visit the high school campus where they will tour the school and learn more about advanced placement courses and career tracks available to them.

Students at Denison High School may opt to take advanced upper-level courses in STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) areas based on the career path of their graduation plan.

Students that take advanced placement courses may get college credit based if they earn a qualifying score on the end-of-course exam. Colleges and universities vary on what scores they accept for credit.