According to Niche’s K-12 Rankings, Grayslake North has been granted fifty-ninth place for Best Public High School.

Niche, which annually ranks nearly 15,000 schools, considers many different factors and statistics that impact an institute’s score. With information such as ACT scores and graduation rates, the Niche compiles the data and forms various scores for each school. The Niche also takes into account opinions from both parents and students by survey responses through the Niche website.

“[The opinions from parents and students] are almost more important than some standard ranking or specific criteria,” said Principal Dr. James Roscoe. “When students and parents are speaking positively about your school, it shows that you’re doing something right.”

In addition, North has made headlines in Newsweek, the former Washington Post, and the Grayslake Patch because of the success of students in sports, academics, community service, and more. A large emphasis is placed on the level of achievement by advanced placement students, according to Roscoe.

“If you look at the AP program and how much that has grown, we are appealing to a wider variety of students. We are reaching out to the nontraditional AP students, and that speaks volume,” he said. “One would think that if we allow more and more students in the AP program that the passing results would go down, and that hasn’t happened.”

As Grayslake provides various services towards residents, the relationship between local schools are prevalent by various activities during the year. North and Central both are active many times during the year, from parades to fundraisers.

“We are just in a community that really supports its schools and students. Being in a community that values innovation, hard work and risk taking makes it a great environment for students,” said associate principal of curriculum and instruction Jeff Schagrin.

North has been continually noticed for extracurricular activities as well, such as new clubs that are initiated by students. Earing its title as a Democracy School, the philosophy of communication and cooperation are always among the priorities of North’s administration.

“The Board really values that student voice as well, with regular student attendances at [their] meetings,” said director of curriculum and instruction Tracey Landry.

With the continuing improvement being made in the 10 years North has been built, there have been many optimistic perspectives for the future.

“People are proud of this school, so you can’t help but think that there’s only one direction this school is going,” Roscoe said. “And that’s going up.”