By Louis Martin, RCAC staff writer

A rural high school with barely 350 students is outranking many of the best schools in the nation. Corbett High School was, by all measures, failing its community in the mid-2000s. Corbett had nearly 200 out of school suspensions when Randy Trani took over as principal in 2004. In desperation, they introduced more Advanced Placement courses to attract students from neighboring districts.

The program has paid off, and today new Corbett students are required to take at least seven AP courses, more than 99 percent of all other students in the country. While teachers were initially concerned that the workload would harm students, they have instead thrived. Out of school suspensions are down to 40 per year, even with a large enrollment increase.

The rigorous curriculum has resulted in families sending students to Corbett from several towns away. The small community, whose main industry is cabbage farming, now sports a thriving school district that has doubled its enrollment since implementing the new AP programs. Twenty percent of Corbett’s student body are from low-income families.

To learn more, read the full Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/the-best-little-schoolhouse-in-oregon-and-how-it-go-to-be-that-way/2019/09/17/418b3264-d5b3-11e9-9343-40db57cf6abd_story.html?noredirect=on