Finding their Niche

COEUR d'ALENE - Two high schools in Kootenai County made Niche.com's top 10 schools in Idaho, the company announced this week.

The ranking website rated Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy as sixth in the state and Lakeland High School as ninth. Boise High School was rated first in the state.

Niche.com is an online content startup created by Carnegie Mellon University students as CollegeProwler.com in 2002. It has now expanded to Niche K-12 and Niche Local, which ranks public schools and communities.

"We're obsessed with providing students, families, and professionals with best-in-class content and deep insight into big life decisions," Niche's website states. "Every year, we help millions of people find their niche and thrive within it."

The company ranks more than 14,000 high schools nationwide using dozens of key statistics and opinion surveys from students, parents and recent alumni.

Niche scores are weighted 50 percent toward academic achievements and seven other factors weighted from 10 percent to 2.5 percent of the score.

Coeur d'Alene Charter received an overall grade of A-minus, with a D-plus in food because the charter school does not have a school lunch program. It also received a D-minus in sports and fitness because it has few extracurricular activities available.

"I am always going to take a great ranking regardless of the methodology they use," said Dan Nicklay, Charter principal. "But to me the bottom line is how the kids perform."

On performance measures, the school received an A-minus in academics and an A for teachers. It also received a B-plus in administration and policies and educational outcomes.

"Those are the things that are meaningful to me," Nicklay said. "We readily accept that we have limited extracurricular activities. The stuff we care about got As and Bs."

According to state standards, Niche said, 99 percent of Charter's 634 students are considered proficient in math and/or reading. That is the highest percentage in the state.

That compares to 90 percent of Lakeland High School's 745 students who are proficient in math and/or reading, according to Niche. Boise High School students are also at 90 percent.

Lakeland received an overall grade of B-plus, with its lowest grade of C-plus for educational outcomes. All other metrics were in the B range except health and safety, which earned an A-minus.

"The staff and students at Lakeland High School are very proud of the recognition we received from the Niche rankings of schools in Idaho," said Lakeland's principal, Conrad Underdahl. "The Niche organization ranks schools from the entire nation and considers a number of criteria in their findings. As a school we are gratified by this acknowledgment."

One of Lakeland's areas of distinction is the variety of educational opportunities it offers, such as its College Academy, which provides students a chance to complete an associate degree on campus, Underdahl said.

"And our professional technical programs, together with KTEC, allow students to meet industry certification standards in numerous vocations," he said. "I also think our close connection with the community plays a large role in our recognition. We are a community school."

Underdahl said the combination of community involvement and educational opportunities is responsible for Niche's positive recognition.