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Eight MCPS High Schools Make U.S. News & World Report 'Best High Schools' List

April 23, 2013

Montgomery County Public Schools placed eight schools on the 2013 Best High Schools list published by U.S. News & World Report. Seven MCPS high schools received a gold medal for being among the top 500 schools in the nation, and one MCPS high school received a silver medal.

The gold medal high schools and their national ranking are Winston Churchill (52), Walt Whitman (59), Poolesville (99), Thomas S. Wootton (105), Richard Montgomery (106), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (128), and Montgomery Blair (247). The one silver medal school is Wheaton High School, which is ranked 1,032.

Maryland has 58 schools on the Best High Schools list and MCPS has seven of the top 10 schools in the state, including the top six—Winston Churchill, Walt Whitman, Poolesville, Thomas S. Wootton, Richard Montgomery, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase high schools.


See how Montgomery County Public Schools performed on the Best High Schools list

“The schools on the U.S. News Best High Schools list should be proud of the work they have done to serve their students and prepare them for college and the workplace,” said Superintendent Joshua P. Starr. “I am pleased with the work that all of our high schools are doing, and we must continue to focus on meeting the needs of all students so we can prepare them for the future they want.”

U.S. News worked with the Washington, D.C.,-based American Institutes for Research to evaluate more than 21,000 high schools across the nation. The analysis first evaluated schools on their overall student performance on state-mandated assessments and how effectively schools educated their African American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged students. Researchers then looked at school performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams to determine how well the schools prepared students for college-level work. Based on the results of their analysis, the researchers created a College Readiness Index for each school. (Learn more about the methodology)

The 4,805 high schools that met the performance criteria and had a College Readiness Index higher than the median qualified for the Best High Schools list. Gold medals were given to the top 500 schools, silver medals were given to the next 1,790 schools, and the remaining received bronze medals.
U.S. News used 2010-2011 data to calculate this report.

Last week, it was announced that MCPS
placed four schools in the top 100 of the Washington Post High School Challenge. All 25 MCPS high schools appeared on the High School Challenge list, which only includes the top 9 percent of high schools in the nation.

U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools 

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