There is a superiority complex that comes with attending one of the best schools in the nation. The assertion itself betrays a sense of privilege, but the facts are undeniable. This is what they call a “high-achieving school.” We have the highest graduation rate of similarly sized schools in Indiana. We hold the state record for athletic championship wins. Our performing arts groups are nationally recognized. As our administrators, teachers and coaches tell us, the kids here aren’t like anybody else’s.

This list goes on, but we’ve heard this all before. The real question is, why? What makes this school district successful while others are not? This concerns more than just the Carmel Clay school district; in our current crisis of American education, it’s the million-dollar question — what makes a school a good school?

For Carmel, there are two basic explanations. One is a “tradition of excellence,” a culture that fosters good students and high expectations. We have a history of academic success. Every extracurricular group, from the radio station to the TechHounds, has developed a legacy of achievement often decades in the making. The strength of our programs attracts some of the best teachers and coaches in America.

The other explanation is money. It’s easy to dismiss as stereotypical teenage stick-it-to-the-man cynicism, but this explanation is grounded in fact. Carmel’s median income is over double that of the state of Indiana’s. Our poverty rate is less than a quarter of the state average. Overall, our parents have more to spend on their childrens’ education.

As usual, the truth is somewhere between two extremes. We’ve never bought our championship titles or our academic success. Our athletes, our academics, our artists — they all work incredibly hard to earn what they have. There are plenty of public schools in rich areas who don’t achieve half as much.

But money does matter. It’s not just how much funding a school can expend on fancy computers and a new athletic facility. It’s the number of adults in Carmel who have a bachelor’s degree, and the resulting multitude of educated parents. It’s the fact that only 8 percent of Carmel students are on free or reduced-price lunches, meaning fewer of our classmates have to worry about getting their next meal or getting a job to pay the bills. It’s the lower rate of crime. It’s the respect students can afford to a school that runs smoothly, to a classroom that is not often disrupted.

We can never underestimate the power of socioeconomic background in a student’s ability to succeed. Poverty is more than how much money a family earns. It’s correlated to instability at home, to higher anxiety levels, to worse health overall. It’s time spent on a job instead of on homework or extracurriculars. It’s the expectation that only half of your peers will go to college. It’s a lower attendance rate, as a 2011 study by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity showed; from kindergarten onward, low-income students are more likely to be chronically absent and fall by the wayside academically. This absence stems from difficulty getting to school and also from a loss of motivation. It comes from a lack of faith, among students and parents, in school as a path to a better future.

In the end, there is no formula for a good education or extracurricular success. So let’s give credit where credit is due. Yes, we are indeed a high-achieving school. Yes, we have strong academics, extracurriculars, teachers and administrators. Yes, the people in our district have more money than the average Hoosier, and yes, that does affect the education that our students receive. Carmel students weren’t born better. We were just born into better circumstances.