BLANCHESTER — For the fourth year in a row, the Ohio Department of Education named Blanchester High School a School of Promise. According to a press release from ODE, only 22 Ohio schools received this designation “for maintaining high academic achievement among their students, including many from economically disadvantaged circumstances that can make learning difficult.”

Blanchester High School is one of only seven traditional high schools and the only school in both the Southwest Ohio district and the Southern Ohio ESC region to be named a School of Promise. Blanchester is also the only high school in the county to meet all indicators on the ODE Building Report Card based on the results of Ohio’s 2015 Next Generation Assessments, PARCC and AIR.

Success is not foreign to Blanchester High School, which has been rated “excellent” or “excellent with distinction” for nine consecutive years. Blanchester High School is continually expanding opportunities for students, including over 20 College Credit Plus courses on Blanchester’s campus in partnership with Southern State Community College.

Approximately 40 percent of the student population participates in the College Credit Plus opportunity to earn transferable college credits while still in high school. Next year, students will also have the opportunity to choose from seven AP courses, allowing students to compare themselves internationally with students who pursue the Advanced Placement course of study.

Blanchester High School is also celebrating that four students are eligible to enter the National Merit Scholarship Competition in the fall, and on May 7, three teams represented Blanchester High School at the State Believe in Ohio Entrepreneurial STEM competition.

The building’s continuous success is the result of a supportive community, a dedicated staff, and hardworking students.