Bridgeport High School, the small, rural school vying for President Obama to speak at its graduation, was a runner-up in the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge.
The White House announced Tuesday that the president had chosen Booker T. Washington High School, in Memphis, Tenn., as the winner. One of that school’s bragging points was its graduation rate, which has shot up from 55 percent in 2007 to 82 percent in 2010, according to officials.
Of the three finalists, Bridgeport High was the smallest and most rural. It enrolls about 200 students, all of whom are high-poverty.
The school has received national attention for making it this far in the competition, and we’ve written about it a few times.
The other finalist was High Tech High, in San Diego.