There’s a reason Zion Lutheran School students in Brighton have consistently ranked in the top test scores nationwide for the past several years, said Principal Zach Brewer.
    “I give the credit to our amazing teachers,” Brewer said. “They’re highly trained and they work hard. A school is only as good as its teachers.
    “And we have very supportive parents,” he continued. “Without the support of the parents, we’re not going to produce as high.”
    In the state of Colorado, public schools assess their students’ academic progress using the CSAP test. CSAP is a statewide progress report of student achievement. Zion uses the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. These tests are taken by students across the U.S.
    In the past five years, Zion students have had an average on all subjects tested of 89, meaning they’ve ranked n the top 11 percent of the nation academically. But in 2011, the school ranked even higher – in the 92nd percentile overall nationwide.
    Brewer said he prefers using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills over CSAP for a couple of reasons.
    “I like that it tests a wide range of subject area,” he said. “And I like how the results are broken down so we can see how each child, classroom and our school did. This is one measurement we use to see how our school is doing.”
    Zion’s enrollment from preschool through eighth grade is around 330 students, Brewer said. This year, the school’s second- through eighth-graders took the tests in subjects including language, reading, math, social studies and science. 
    The school’s third-graders ranked in the 98th percentile overall in the nation and second-graders were in the 97th percentile overall, with fifth-graders in the 96th percentile and sixth-graders in the 95th percentile.
    Each class at the school this year had an incentive that if the classroom ranked at  the 80th percentile or higher they would receive a treat of its choice, such as a trip to get ice cream or a pajama day. Because the students school-wide ranked higher than their overall goal of 85, they were able to enjoy a movie day last month.
     “A big part of it is that we have high expectations, moral, spiritual and academic,” Brewer said. “And the Christian faith is in every subject we do. We hold them accountable to biblical standards and it all comes from our relationship with Jesus.”
    Brewer said goals haven’t been set yet for next year’s testing, but he would like to push for rankings overall in at least the 90th percentile and at least the 85th percentile by classroom.
    “We’re always of the mindset that we can improve. But we’re thrilled about the 92 percent for 2011.”