Fairfax of Notre Dame told me Philip Burnell was valedictorian of the class of 2000, so I have to believe them.
It was just as unbelievable to me, especially since he stated in a King of Hate segment that he quit trying in school by 11th grade and did not get straight A' s. As has been stated, this school focuses on sports more than academics so that is one factor.
Second, this school is rated as one of the most "diverse" and you can take that for what it is. I don't have any demographics, but if there was a high percentage of students who had English as a second language it would give Phil an advantage.
This was a Catholic school. As far as I know, science is taught differently in religious schools as opposed to public schools. I'm sure I'm over exaggerating, but couldn't you just answer any test question with some variant of "because God said so".
I also have a personal theory that Phil's parents did a good portion of his schoolwork for him. We have Phil's testimony to go by, but his parents allegedly went to the school to get him less homework. Daddy got him the helicopter job. They give him birthday and Christmas money to this day. They seem to have an unusual relationship with their son and I wouldn't be surprised if little Phil cried "I can't do it" and mommy and daddy did it for him.
Another example of his high school being poor is when he went to college. He took a computer class and flunked out. He blamed his high school for never teaching him how to use a computer. This is conflicting with Phil's claim that computers was his favorite subject in school.