Harvard-Westlake • Studio City • Volume 35 • Issue 2 • November 12, 2025 • hwchronicle.com
Financial report released
Niche ranking plummets
By Abby Ryan
By Sophie lee In the newly released 2026 Niche “Best Private High Schools in America” ranking, the school dropped from #11 to #40 nationwide. The updated rankings reflect new introductions to the grading system, including an evaluation of the percentage of high school seniors who go on to four-year colleges and a de-emphasis on the “Top Popular Colleges” statistic, according to niche.com. Niche is the leading resource for comprehensive rankings in K-12 schools, colleges and neighborhoods. The wellknown website collects quantitative data and surveys users, along with information verified by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics. According to niche.com, the Overall Niche Grade is determined by a composite score of several categories, including academics, sports, diversity, teachers, college preparation, clubs and activities. President Rick Commons said through his exploration of the ranking system, he found that the school placed high in college preparatory rankings, but lower overall. “I inquired about the rankings and I was told two things,” Commons said. “One is that if you look at the rankings, oddly, they have a ranking for college preparatory high schools. We are ranked in the top 10, leapfrogging more than thirty schools ranked ahead of us in the “Best Private High Schools in America” ranking. But for the overall ranking, we are further down.” Commons said the athletics grade was especially surprising. “Niche gives us A+ grades in every area but athletics,” Commons said. “That’s the real surprise, given that I think our athletics program is broader and more excellent than nearly all the schools ranked ahead of us in the ‘best private schools’ ranking.” • Continued on A2
than that of last year’s class.” This juxtaposition is not an unprecedented occurrence. President Rick Commons said the school has seen that odd and even numbered classes of graduating seniors tend to alternate between cautious and bold approaches to the college application process, respectively, with even years’ classes taking greater risks. “For over a decade, there has been a pendulum that has swung from odd to even years,” Commons said. “Statistically speaking, it is absolutely true that odd years have made strategic early decisions, engendering seniors of even years to observe the success of that and become overly optimistic.” Commons said the Class of 2025 took a deliberate and strategic approach towards early round applications, and their positive results affected the Class of 2026’s decisions. “2025 seniors thought more about where they could be happy and more likely to get in instead of applying to the
most selective school,” Commons said. “Because of this, over 50% of the class had good news by the end of December. What I have understood from the deans is that the class of 2026 is falling into that pattern of being overly optimistic.” Angela Ren ’26 submitted an ED application and said that while the Class of 2025’s success ful results influenced the Class of 2026, other factors should be taken into account for students taking risks. “Seeing the previous class’s results gave us confidence and pushed us to take bigger risks,” Ren said. “But, there are other reasons like prestige and legacy. An Ivy League college is associated with quality education and success. Harvard -Westlake’s annual matriculation list and experienced dean team breeds hope that we have a better shot at these schools. Also, many students here have parents who graduated from these same top schools, giving them advantages and making it a logical choice to apply.”
The annual financial report showed that the school reached a new record of $10.3 million in annual giving and broke even on its overall budget. The school also expanded on the financial aid budget, which is now $16 million, as well as faculty compensation. Additionally, River Park is 85% funded and is on track to open fall of 2026. President Rick Commons said the most important takeaway from the financial report is that the school covered all its costs. “We broke even, which is always important for a nonprofit,” Commons said. “You don’t want to run a deficit because that means that you’re impacting the future. You also don’t wanna run a significant surplus because it means you’re not using the resources that are provided by tuition and other sources of revenue to serve what current students need.” Commons said the record breaking number of funds raised helped the school give back to students and employees. “It’s important that we had Annual Giving at a new record, which is once again the largest dollar amount raised by any independent day school in the U.S.,” Commons said. “The Annual Givings is a really important tailwind for us, particularly with regard to how we compensate employees and how we provide financial aid for students. A big takeaway there was that we had voluntary support beyond tuition that was well over $10 million. It accounts for more than 10% of our budget for beneficial compensation for our employees and financial aid for students.” Chief Financial Officer David Weil ’93 said the school continues to allocate funding where it is necesary to support various programs. “We continue to be very diligent in our use of financial resources, directing funds toward where they are most impactful,” Weil said. “In our case, that means support for students, employees, campus upkeep and our academic, artistic and athletic programs.”
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ARI ENGELBERG
SENIORS SHOOT HIGH: The Class of 2026 applies to top colleges in a competitive application season. Pressures for the seniors are extremely high as they continue to keep up with their studies while writing college applications.
Class of 2026 takes agressive college application strategy in early round
By Nicole Um
A large portion of the Class of 2026 selected the same highly ranked schools for their Early Decision (ED) or Early Action (EA) applications. In comparison, the Class of 2025 chose less competitive schools for their early round applications. Upper School Dean Erik DeAngelis said he estimated that around 40% of seniors initially planned to apply early to an Ivy League college or Stanford before the percentage dropped slightly. “In mid-October, around 40% of the senior class intended on using their committal early app to an Ivy or Stanford,” DeAngelis said. “That number ended up falling a bit once it came time for students to submit. A fair number of students decided to move into different pools, but nonetheless still very competitive nonIvy ones. I’d estimate that the actual percentage this year for people who applied to Ivies and Stanford is slightly higher
• Continued on A2
• Continued on hwchronicle.com
IN THIS ISSUE
A2
A11
B4
C2
D1
Dodging Balls: The first and second rounds of Prefect Council’s annual Dodgeball Tournament are now underway.
Health in Jeopordy: Hailey Kramar ’27 discusses the growing mistrust of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
From Past to Present: Alumni of the Harvard School for Boys reflect on how the school changed through the 1960s and 70s.
Shakespearean Success: The Theater Department put on three showings of their “Macbeth” production from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.
Catching Up With Trent: Trent Perry ’24 reflects on his collegiate basketball journey and career in an exclusive interview.