So Cincinnati: Walnut Hills rated top public high school in Ohio

CINCINNATI (Jeff Hirsh) -- "We're number one!" is what they can say at Cincinnati's Walnut Hills High School.

US News and World Report recently rated it the top public high school in Ohio. In most high schools, you have to pass a test to get out. At Walnut Hills High School, you have to pass a test to get in.

Marvin Kraus got in, "Well in our family education was everything. It was pounded into our head."

Marvin's son Matthew got in saying, "This is the kind of place if you tried to create it from scratch today you couldn't do it. This is a gem and we have to nurture it."

And Marvin's granddaughter, Matthew's daughter, Shyra got in too, "I think it's really meaningful that it's a family tradition. I take a lot of pride in the fact that my dad went here and my grandfather went here."

That's not uncommon. Walnut Hills is so good that it actually keeps people in the city of Cincinnati. Urban school systems have lots of problems, including shrinking enrollment. But with more than 2,400 students grades 7-12, Walnut Hills has been growing.

Principal Jeff Brokamp said, "The greatest cause of our enrollment growth in recent years has been as a result of families who traditionally have not sent their children to public schools and looking at Walnut Hills and saying, 'Oh my!'"

Back when Marvin Kraus started at Walnut, the school already had its reputation for excellence. Founded in 1895 the original building, now apartments, still stands a couple of miles away. The current building dates to 1932. But what makes Walnut Hills, Walnut Hills is inside.

"Rigor means offering more advanced placement courses than any school in the country, which we do," said Principal Brokamp.

Most top rated high schools are suburban and overwhelmingly well to do and white. Walnut Hills embraces and embodies diversity. Marvin Kraus was valedictorian, the excellence he had continues, changing with the times. New technology, different demographics, but still cherishing learning for its own sake. How many other public schools have Latin?

Walnut Hills puts education in your blood. Principal Brokamp went here as well.

He said, "I knew Walnut Hills was a special place and I came to know that over dinner. My dad was the Principal here. That's all we talked about."

Jeff's dad, Ray, went on to become Superintendent. As for a current student like Shira , who's off to Bryn Mawr College in the fall, she's not sure what she'll become. But Shyra says if she ends up back in Cincinnati and has kids, there's no doubt where they would go to school.

As Principal Brokamp noted, Walnut Hills enrollment is on the rise. Next year they're looking at around 2,600 students.



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