By Carol Anders Staff Writer
Two Marshall County schools have been notified that they made the list of America’s Best High Schools 2009 by U.S. News & World Report.
Argos Jr.-Sr. High School and Plymouth High School both achieved bronze status.
Three categories of distinction, gold, silver and bronze are awarded based on: standardized test performance; proficiency rates of all students, including the least advantaged; and challenging college-ready curriculum.
Letters from Brian Kelly, editor of U.S. News & World Report, acknowledging the status of the schools were received this week by PHS Principal Jim Condon and Argos Principal Jennifer Lucht.

The search started with looking at data from the 2006-07 school year from more than 21,000 public high schools.
The first two steps in the process ensured that the schools serve all of their students using state proficiency standards as the measuring benchmarks. After reviewing the reading and math results for all students, they factored in the percentage of economically disadvantaged students enrolled at the school to find which schools were performing better than their statistical expectations.
The second step determined whether the school’s least-advantaged students were performing better than average for similar students in the state.
The third and final step evaluated whether the schools were offering challenging college-ready curriculum.
Listed among the top 100 schools in the nation was Vanderburgh County in Evansville. Five Indiana Schools achieved silver status and 23 were given the bronze award.
Argos Superintendent Barb Flory said, “I truly believe this shows the benefit of small schools in developing learners . . . I am proud of the dedication of the Argos teachers.”
Condon also expressed his gratitude towards the teachers at PHS saying, “They really care about all kids.”