Firth High School receives national recognition

U.S. News and World Report ranked Firth High School as one of the best schools in the Gem State.

“In education we work very hard to bring our kids a good education and to have a ranking like this really means something to us,” said Firth School District Superintendent Sid Tubbs.

Nationally, Firth is ranked 937 out of 21,000 public high schools in the report, which places the Firth Cougars in the top 5 percent.

“We put it right on the front page of our website, we set a mass email to all of our parents and people were excited. I’m not sure what other word I should use because they’re impressed that’s where we are,” Tubbs said.

Within the Gem State the school is ranked fourth out of 125 districts. The reason: Almost half of there students are enrolled in advanced placement classes. Sharla Cook is one of the teachers that helps students succeed

“I was excited for our AP students they work really hard and it’s a lot of pressure to take an AP class. It’s a lot of pressure but I was proud of them,” said Cook.

The magazine also looks at reading and math results for all students based on proficiency tests.

“As far as test scores, 87 percent were proficient in reading and 79 percent were proficient in math,” said Tubbs.

He also said one reason for those high scores is the size of the school. About 230 teens are enrolled. “If you have a big class it’s a little bit harder for each individual person to get help with what they need so it helps when the teacher has a smaller class. The teacher can be able to help each student and take the time with us to figure out what we need,” said senior Michelle Tucker.

In eastern Idaho, another school received recognition. Sugar Salem High School is ranked No. 9 in the report.