Fort Gibson schools rank high in Oklahoma

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·2 min read

Jul. 26—Fort Gibson Public Schools ranks as the eighth best public school district in Oklahoma, according to the online ranking site Niche.

The site gave Fort Gibson an overall grade of A, based on public data sources and reviews on the website.

Niche is an online site that aims to help people choose schools, colleges, communities and workplaces.

For public schools, Niche draws data from the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core Data from the National Center for Education Statistics and online surveys of parents, students and graduates.

According to website, Niche gave Fort Gibson A grades for health and safety, teachers, administration and sports, and health.

A- grades were in diversity and in clubs and activities.

B+ grades were in academics and college preparation.

B grades were in food and in resources and facilities.

Fort Gibson High School Principal Ben Pemberton took issue with some of the below-A grades.

"For a 4A size school, we've got approximately a 6A number of activities kids can be engaged in," he said. "There are several unique opportunities here, simply because of the facilities we have, especially with swimming, robotics, and obviously football, basketball, wrestling. Just the sheer number of activities kids can be involved in is enormous."

He said 30 school activities and organizations were recognized at the high school's homecoming last September.

"Which for a school our size, is awesome," he said.

Pemberton said the district holds academics "in really high esteem."

"We try to promote college and career readiness across the board," he said. "We've really made it a focus of ours to help improve ACT scores. We want to meet their academic needs and prepare them for life after high school."

The website also ranked individual schools in the district:

Fort Gibson Intermediate Elementary and Middle Schools each received A grades. Fort Gibson Early Learning Center received an A- and Fort Gibson High received a B+

The website also ranked Fort Gibson as Oklahoma's fourth best town to raise a family, behind Edmond, Jenks and Bixby.