By Maddie Crabtree
News Writer
Graphic by Kainin Blisset

Entering just its eighth year, Metea was ranked fourth in Chicago Magazine for DuPage County’s top high schools. This puts Metea above both Waubonsie and Neuqua Valley, as well as both District 203 high schools.

Even though Metea is relatively new, the students and faculty have worked hard to be a part of the top five high schools in all of DuPage county. According to Chicago Magazine, Metea has a graduation rate of 97 percent, and 95 percent of Freshmen are on track to graduate, which has many students proud.

“I couldn’t be happier to hear that we’re above our rivals Waubonsie and Neuqua, but it’s great that even though our school is still young, we’re already making a positive name for our self,” sophomore Beatriz Sindac said.

After just his third year at Metea, Dr. Echols expressed his excitement when he found out Metea was ranked fourth. “We have the most caring, energetic staff in the area. We do a really good job of trying to promote a positive culture here; we also try to treat our students as young adults. They promote student independence, and when they make mistakes, we try and help them learn from those mistakes,” Principal Dr. Echols said.

Echols also emphasized the importance of integrity, and how it can help students improve Metea’s ranking for next year. “I think one thing we can do is live with integrity, integrity in doing our own work, and integrity in getting to class on time, as well as integrity in treating people the way we want them to treat us. I think those things will lead to better engagement in the classroom,” Dr. Echols said.

“[Metea’s ranking] isn’t surprising because we have an amazing staff who are dedicated to helping their students grow,” English teacher Kristen Mansmith said. “The teachers are engaging, and work really hard to keep kids engaged and active. We have a great student body, and we need to [stay] on the same path, and remain to have a growth mindset instead of a fixed one. It truly takes a village to achieve our ranking.”

Metea has made lots of strides into making it the powerhouse it is today. It seems the students and staff enjoy what they do, and are excited and eager to reach more accomplishments in the near future.