TRANSPARENCY? HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS ARE DOWN, BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT FROM THE INFORMATION ROCKWOOD SHARED WITH PARENTS AND TAXPAYERS. NOT MENTIONED: ONE SCHOOL DROPPED FROM #14 TO #61.
That big drop happened at Rockwood Summit High School.
But, in the post Rockwood wrote on Facebook about the rankings, there's no mention of the eye-opening drop at Summit, or any specifics about the rankings at the other three high schools.
Instead, the district told everybody:
"All four high schools in Rockwood School District are ranked among the top 17 percent in Missouri and the top 28 percent of all public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's '2025-2026 Best U.S. High Schools' list."
SPECIFIC RANKING NUMBERS
When Rockwood high schools were ranked higher than they are now, the district told the community the specific school rank numbers in its social media posts.
EXTRA STEP TO LOOK BETTER
Note: Calculating "top xyz" percentages is an extra step to present the rankings in, apparently, a more positive light. Posting "top 17%" does sound better than "dropped from #14 to #61," as is the case this year.
For your reference, this is how the rankings look on the U.S. News & World Report site.
Kind of sounds like it's what they've always done.
But, as you saw earlier, it's not.
Also, the links in those old posts that go "to the full information" are to Rockwood's own website; not to the rankings as they're published by U.S. News & World Report.
The reply did not mention that posts prior to 2023 included specific school rankings. We pointed that out, and asked if the district is using percentages because school rankings have dropped. No reply just yet.
WEBSITE
Note: If you take the time to click the link in Rockwood's Facebook post and go to Rockwood's website on your own, the district does reference the specific school ranking numbers there this year, mixed in with the calculated percentages. There are no references, though, to Summit's 47 spot drop statewide, or any previous rankings.
SOCIAL MEDIA VS WEBSITE
What the district puts on social media, vs on Rockwood's website, matters.
At the August 28th school board meeting, the district gave a communication presentation and referenced its increasing social media presence, particularly on Facebook. Details include having more than 27,000 followers on Facebook and reaching more than 800,000 Facebook accounts with its posts, which is up 41% from the year before.
If those followers only saw Rockwood's Facebook post, they didn't get the whole story about high school rankings.
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
They're also not getting the big picture: The district is not quite the ranking powerhouse it used to be. As we said earlier in the post, the last time U.S. News & World Report ranked all four Rockwood high schools in the top 10 for Missouri, was 2019.
With three out of four high schools ranking below the top 10 in Missouri this year, surrounding districts have continued to creep up in the rankings.
SPECIFIC RANKS
From 2018:
SPECIFIC RANKS
From 2019:
"In the state of Missouri, Lafayette ranked first, Rockwood Summit ranked third, Eureka ranked fourth and Marquette ranked eighth."
SPECIFIC RANKS
FROM 2020:
FROM 2021: A MIX
"Top 20 in Missouri" is a broad reference to rankings (not included: #8, #9, #18, #20).
and
FROM 2022: A MIX
"Top 16 in Missouri" is a broad reference to overall rankings, not specific to any school.
and
OUR OTHER POST
Our other post on this topic provides more detail of what factored into these rankings, a comparison list of rankings for surrounding districts, and a link to see the most current proficiency data, by school.
According to this year's high school rankings from U.S. News & World Report, Summit now ranks #61 in Missouri. Last year, it ranked #14.
But, in the post Rockwood wrote on Facebook about the rankings, there's no mention of the eye-opening drop at Summit, or any specifics about the rankings at the other three high schools.
Instead, the district told everybody:
"All four high schools in Rockwood School District are ranked among the top 17 percent in Missouri and the top 28 percent of all public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's '2025-2026 Best U.S. High Schools' list."
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This same post is on X (formerly Twitter).
NOT PUBLICIZED: RANKED LOWER
Also not in the above post: Three of Rockwood's four high schools are ranked lower statewide than last year. And, all four are ranked lower nationally, by U.S. News & World Report.
You wouldn't have any idea that's the case from the district. As of this writing, that Facebook post has more than 500 likes and has been shared more than 80 times.
MISSING RANKINGS
For your reference, here are this year's specific rankings: #5, #15, #23, and #61 in the state.
Also for your reference:
How they compare to last year, and how they compare to 2019, which is the last time all four high schools were ranked in the top 10 statewide.
This year, only one is in the top 10 for the state (Lafayette).
COMMUNITY CARES
Parents and taxpayers want to feel good about how the district is doing. They say lot of good things do happen here, and teachers are revered by families.
But, they also want to KNOW how the district is doing.
But, they also want to KNOW how the district is doing.
TRANSPARENCY FLUCTUATES
They can't know if, as the district's rankings fluctuate, its transparency fluctuates, too.
SPECIFIC RANKING NUMBERS
When Rockwood high schools were ranked higher than they are now, the district told the community the specific school rank numbers in its social media posts.
As you can see below, as recently as 2019 and 2020, Rockwood used the words "seventh", "10th", "FIRST AND THIRD", and "eighth." Those words are the actual rankings from U.S. News & World Report.
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| Facebook posts from 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020. Complete Facebook posts can be seen at the bottom of this post. |
NOW THEY DO THIS
As rankings have gone down, Rockwood has stopped using specific school rankings and is instead using overall percentages to describe the rankings.
As rankings have gone down, Rockwood has stopped using specific school rankings and is instead using overall percentages to describe the rankings.
 |
| 2023, 2024, 2025. See the full posts near the bottom of this article. |
Note: Calculating "top xyz" percentages is an extra step to present the rankings in, apparently, a more positive light. Posting "top 17%" does sound better than "dropped from #14 to #61," as is the case this year.
For your reference, this is how the rankings look on the U.S. News & World Report site.
WHAT DOES ROCKWOOD SAY
We asked Rockwood's Director of Communication why this year's post included percentages rather than specific rankings.
Her answer was, "We shared as percentages in the same way we have done in previous years with a link to the full information."
Her answer was, "We shared as percentages in the same way we have done in previous years with a link to the full information."
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| The links are to the district's Facebook posts from 2023, 2024, and 2025. |
Kind of sounds like it's what they've always done.
But, as you saw earlier, it's not.
Also, the links in those old posts that go "to the full information" are to Rockwood's own website; not to the rankings as they're published by U.S. News & World Report.
The reply did not mention that posts prior to 2023 included specific school rankings. We pointed that out, and asked if the district is using percentages because school rankings have dropped. No reply just yet.
WEBSITE
Note: If you take the time to click the link in Rockwood's Facebook post and go to Rockwood's website on your own, the district does reference the specific school ranking numbers there this year, mixed in with the calculated percentages. There are no references, though, to Summit's 47 spot drop statewide, or any previous rankings.
SOCIAL MEDIA VS WEBSITE
What the district puts on social media, vs on Rockwood's website, matters.
At the August 28th school board meeting, the district gave a communication presentation and referenced its increasing social media presence, particularly on Facebook. Details include having more than 27,000 followers on Facebook and reaching more than 800,000 Facebook accounts with its posts, which is up 41% from the year before.
If those followers only saw Rockwood's Facebook post, they didn't get the whole story about high school rankings.
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
They're also not getting the big picture: The district is not quite the ranking powerhouse it used to be. As we said earlier in the post, the last time U.S. News & World Report ranked all four Rockwood high schools in the top 10 for Missouri, was 2019.
With three out of four high schools ranking below the top 10 in Missouri this year, surrounding districts have continued to creep up in the rankings.
COMPARED LOCALLY
Districts with high schools that rank higher than Rockwood high schools are no longer just districts like Clayton and Ladue, or occasionally Ft. Zumwalt and Francis Howell.
Depending on the school, districts with high schools ranking higher than Rockwood's include Bayless, Maplewood, and Webster Groves. More detail is in our other post on this topic.
Districts with high schools that rank higher than Rockwood high schools are no longer just districts like Clayton and Ladue, or occasionally Ft. Zumwalt and Francis Howell.
Depending on the school, districts with high schools ranking higher than Rockwood's include Bayless, Maplewood, and Webster Groves. More detail is in our other post on this topic.
WHAT LED TO THE RANKINGS
Drops in the percentage of students that passed AP exams, and drops in proficiency for core subjects, played a role in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Especially Math. That is also in our other report on this topic.
CAN'T GET PREVIOUS DATA
Note: On the U.S. News & World Report site, previous ranking data disappears each year, replaced with the more current data. That makes it hard for the public to know whether rankings have gone up or down.
Rockwood doesn't make it easy, either. How many taxpayers will scroll through years of posts on the district's Facebook page to see what was shared before?
If you're interested in seeing the wording in the district's Facebook posts as far back as 2015, we have them, and they are at the bottom of this post. The U.S. News & World Report high school rankings from each year are also there, back to 2019.
WHAT TEACHERS SAY
Teachers we talked to say they believe the drop in rankings is largely due to a couple of factors: constantly changing curriculum, and teacher salaries that aren't competitive; meaning experienced teachers go elsewhere and fewer new teachers apply.
They also mentioned phones in the classrooms, which, new this year, is now against state law. (Scroll down to section 162.207).
ADDITIONAL CONTEXT
This current lack of transparency comes at a time when Rockwood is asking voters to approve a 45 cent levy to go toward raises for teachers and staff. It's on the ballot in November.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND FULL SCREENSHOTS FROM THIS POST
PURPOSE: TRANSPARENCY
Note: Pinpointing what caused Rockwood high schools to drop in rankings is not the purpose of this post. The rankings go up and down, depending on the year.
Note: On the U.S. News & World Report site, previous ranking data disappears each year, replaced with the more current data. That makes it hard for the public to know whether rankings have gone up or down.
Rockwood doesn't make it easy, either. How many taxpayers will scroll through years of posts on the district's Facebook page to see what was shared before?
If you're interested in seeing the wording in the district's Facebook posts as far back as 2015, we have them, and they are at the bottom of this post. The U.S. News & World Report high school rankings from each year are also there, back to 2019.
WHAT TEACHERS SAY
Teachers we talked to say they believe the drop in rankings is largely due to a couple of factors: constantly changing curriculum, and teacher salaries that aren't competitive; meaning experienced teachers go elsewhere and fewer new teachers apply.
They also mentioned phones in the classrooms, which, new this year, is now against state law. (Scroll down to section 162.207).
ADDITIONAL CONTEXT
This current lack of transparency comes at a time when Rockwood is asking voters to approve a 45 cent levy to go toward raises for teachers and staff. It's on the ballot in November.
-----------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND FULL SCREENSHOTS FROM THIS POST
PURPOSE: TRANSPARENCY
Note: Pinpointing what caused Rockwood high schools to drop in rankings is not the purpose of this post. The rankings go up and down, depending on the year.
Its purpose is also not to draw negative attention to the schools in the district.
Instead, it is to shine a light on the fluctuating transparency from the district, and to share the information and context that Rockwood did not share with the public when it celebrated these rankings.
HOW RANKINGS ARE DETERMINED
The rankings from U.S News & World Report always include data that's two years old, so this year's rankings include data from the 2022-2023 school year. Click here for more on that.
OTHER RANKING SOURCES
Note: Other sources of rankings have other methodology and may have different results.
As an example, Niche includes culture and student and parent reviews in their methodology. U.S. News & World Report does not. Niche says two of Rockwood's four high schools are in the top 10 for the state this year, as opposed to just one.
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U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS EVERY YEAR FROM 2019 TO 2025
LAFAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL
2019 #1 MO #431 nationally
2020 #7 MO #533 nationally
2021 #8 MO #794 nationally
2022 #7 MO #387 nationally
2023 #9 MO #970 nationally
2024 #5 MO #517 nationally
2025 #5 MO #840 nationally
MARQUETTE HIGH SCHOOL
2019 #8 MO #947 nationally
2020 #9 MO #723 nationally
2021 #9 MO #876 nationally
2022 #10 MO #1,146 nationally
2023 #11 MO #1,079 nationally
2024 #11 MO #1,169 nationally
2025 #15 MO #1,680 nationally
EUREKA HIGH SCHOOL
2019 # 4 MO #681 nationally
2020 #11 MO #892 nationally
2021 #20 MO #1,631 nationally
2022 #14 MO #1,281 nationally
2023 #27 MO #2,697 nationally
2024 #21 MO #1,984 nationally
2025 #23 MO #2,107 nationally
ROCKWOOD SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL
2019 #3 MO #621 nationally
2020 #10 MO #780 nationally
2021 #18 MO #1,445 nationally
2022 #16 MO #1,417 nationally
2023 #22 MO #2,393 nationally
2024 #14 MO #1,718 nationally
2025 #61 MO #4,868 nationally
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SCREENSHOTS AND LINKS REFERENCED ABOVE
CONTEXT
WHEN THE SWITCH IN WORDING HAPPENED
2020 was the last year Rockwood told the community the actual, specific U.S. News & World Report rankings of each high school.
Between 2020 and 2023, it sometimes avoided specific school ranking numbers by using more broad ranking statements similar to: 'all four schools are in the Top 20 for the state.'
-----
POSTS WITH SPECIFIC RANKS
Even as far back as 2015:
"The Newsweek High School Rankings are out, and two Rockwood high schools made the list! In fact, they are the FIRST and THIRD best-ranked schools in Missouri:.."
HOW RANKINGS ARE DETERMINED
The rankings from U.S News & World Report always include data that's two years old, so this year's rankings include data from the 2022-2023 school year. Click here for more on that.
OTHER RANKING SOURCES
Note: Other sources of rankings have other methodology and may have different results.
As an example, Niche includes culture and student and parent reviews in their methodology. U.S. News & World Report does not. Niche says two of Rockwood's four high schools are in the top 10 for the state this year, as opposed to just one.
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U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS EVERY YEAR FROM 2019 TO 2025
LAFAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL
2019 #1 MO #431 nationally
2020 #7 MO #533 nationally
2021 #8 MO #794 nationally
2022 #7 MO #387 nationally
2023 #9 MO #970 nationally
2024 #5 MO #517 nationally
2025 #5 MO #840 nationally
MARQUETTE HIGH SCHOOL
2019 #8 MO #947 nationally
2020 #9 MO #723 nationally
2021 #9 MO #876 nationally
2022 #10 MO #1,146 nationally
2023 #11 MO #1,079 nationally
2024 #11 MO #1,169 nationally
2025 #15 MO #1,680 nationally
EUREKA HIGH SCHOOL
2019 # 4 MO #681 nationally
2020 #11 MO #892 nationally
2021 #20 MO #1,631 nationally
2022 #14 MO #1,281 nationally
2023 #27 MO #2,697 nationally
2024 #21 MO #1,984 nationally
2025 #23 MO #2,107 nationally
ROCKWOOD SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL
2019 #3 MO #621 nationally
2020 #10 MO #780 nationally
2021 #18 MO #1,445 nationally
2022 #16 MO #1,417 nationally
2023 #22 MO #2,393 nationally
2024 #14 MO #1,718 nationally
2025 #61 MO #4,868 nationally
---------------------------
SCREENSHOTS AND LINKS REFERENCED ABOVE
CONTEXT
WHEN THE SWITCH IN WORDING HAPPENED
2020 was the last year Rockwood told the community the actual, specific U.S. News & World Report rankings of each high school.
Between 2020 and 2023, it sometimes avoided specific school ranking numbers by using more broad ranking statements similar to: 'all four schools are in the Top 20 for the state.'
-----
POSTS WITH SPECIFIC RANKS
Even as far back as 2015:
"The Newsweek High School Rankings are out, and two Rockwood high schools made the list! In fact, they are the FIRST and THIRD best-ranked schools in Missouri:.."
 |
| Post from August, 2015 |
From 2018:
"This year, Eureka High ranked fourth, Lafayette High ranked sixth, and Rockwood Summit ranked eighth..."
 |
| Post from May 2018 |
From 2019:
"In the state of Missouri, Lafayette ranked first, Rockwood Summit ranked third, Eureka ranked fourth and Marquette ranked eighth."
 |
| Post from April, 2019 |
FROM 2020:
"According to the list, Lafayette High is ranked seventh in Missouri, Marquette High is ranked ninth, Rockwood Summit High is ranked 10th, and Eureka High is ranked 11th."
 |
| Post from April, 2020 |
Before completely switching to just percentages in 2023, Rockwood started mixing in more broad statements in 2020, 2021, and 2022, to describe rankings, such as "top 20 in Missouri."
"Top 20 in Missouri" is a broad reference to rankings (not included: #8, #9, #18, #20).
and
"Top 10 percent...in the country."
Note: 3 of the 4 schools had dropped statewide from the previous year. One stayed the same.
FROM 2022: A MIX
"Top 16 in Missouri" is a broad reference to overall rankings, not specific to any school.
and
"Top 8 percent" in the country.
Note: This would have been a good year to provide context from the previous year. 3 of the 4 schools had improved a bit statewide from the year before.
FROM 2023: PERCENTAGES ONLY
2023 is the first year in at least the last decade, where Rockwood did not reference specific or broad ranking numbers at all, and instead only used calculated percentages.
(Posts about these rankings were not located in 2016 and 2017.)
In the screenshot below:
"All four high schools in the Rockwood School District are ranked among the top 6 percent in Missouri and the top 16 percent of all public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's "2023-2024 Best High Schools" list.
Note: Top 6% in the state does sound better than saying all four high schools dropped in their state ranking, which was also true this year.
 |
| Facebook post from 2022 |
FROM 2023: PERCENTAGES ONLY
2023 is the first year in at least the last decade, where Rockwood did not reference specific or broad ranking numbers at all, and instead only used calculated percentages.
(Posts about these rankings were not located in 2016 and 2017.)
In the screenshot below:
"All four high schools in the Rockwood School District are ranked among the top 6 percent in Missouri and the top 16 percent of all public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's "2023-2024 Best High Schools" list.
Note: Top 6% in the state does sound better than saying all four high schools dropped in their state ranking, which was also true this year.
FROM 2024: AGAIN PERCENTAGES ONLY
Rockwood again only used percentages rather than the specific school rankings from U.S. News & World Report.
"All four high schools in Rockwood School District are ranked among the top 6 percent in Missouri and the top 12 percent of all public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's "2024 Best U.S. High Schools" list.
 |
| Facebook post from August, 2024 |
FROM 2025: Rockwood again only used percentages, rather than the specific school rankings from U.S. News & World Report. As we reported above, 3 of the 4 had dropped statewide from the year before. All 4 dropped nationally.
"All four high schools in Rockwood School District are ranked among the top 17 percent in Missouri and the top 28 percent of all public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report's "2025-2026 Best U.S. High Schools" list."
Our other post on this topic provides more detail of what factored into these rankings, a comparison list of rankings for surrounding districts, and a link to see the most current proficiency data, by school.