Why we're better than before

It’s no secret to residents of Malverne, Lakeview and north Lynbrook that Malverne High School is a very different place than it was just a decade ago. Yet it’s still sobering when some less-than-proud memories are revisited.

“Eight years ago, we were making 550 suspensions a year,” recalled Dr. James Hunderfund, superintendent of the Malverne School District. “Some kids were suspended multiple times — mostly because they wouldn’t give up their cell phone.”

Last year, the district recorded only 52 suspensions, and boasted an academic record that caught the attention of Newsweek and the Washington Post, which ranked the high school among the best and most challenging high schools in the country, respectively.

What prompted the change?

According to school officials, it has been a combination of character- and good-conduct-building initiatives focused on both students and staff, improvements and additions to the high school’s academic programs and extracurricular activities, and a change in values in the communities served by the district.

According to district statistics, Malverne High students are scoring higher on SAT and ACT exams, taking more A.P. and college-credit courses and participating in more extracurricular activities than they have in the past. Only 43 percent of them even took the SAT in 2008. In 2014, 93 percent did.

In 2008, only 14 percent of students at the high school who took an A.P. exam passed it. In 2014, 60 percent of students who took an A.P. exam passed, and 30 percent earned one of the top two grades, a 4 or 5.

Grade point averages have risen as well. In 2010, 25.5 percent of students made the honor roll, with an average of 85 or better. In 2014, 36.6 percent did.

College enrollment statistics for the high school have improved, too, though less dramatically. In 2010, 87 percent of 115 high school seniors went on to college; in 2014; 91 percent did.

“We have a lot more kids moving up to a higher level of achievement,” said Hunderfund.