Upper St. Clair Gets High Marks in Washington Post Rankings

scored well on national lists this year. The district was recently named among the nation's top schools in the Washington Post's High School Challenge.

Upper St. Clair High School also made the score earlier this week on

The lists, released over the weekend, depend in part on the number of advanced subject tests taken by students, as well as other variables. 

The Washington Post's Challenge Index is based on the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2011 divided by the number of graduating seniors, according to the Post. 

The Challenge Index also measures how effectively a school prepares its students for college, according to The Washington Post's website.

Of the 1,900 public high schools ranked nationally, Upper St. Clair came in at number 962 with an index of 1.973. The Post notes that while the index is "not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college."

USC ranked eighth out of 30 schools that made the list from Pennsylvania. 

, , , South Fayette, North Allegheny, Mt. Lebanon, Hampton and also made the grade, according to the list.

An information page showed that Upper St. Clair offers 18 AP and 15 IB courses.

Other local schools in the listing and their rankings include:

Pine-Richland, sixth in Pennsylvania and 763 in U.S.;

Quaker Valley, eight in Pennsylvania and 1,190 in U.S.;

North Allegheny, 14th in Pennsylvania and 1,201 in U.S.;

Hampton, 16th in Pennsylvania and 1,340 in U.S.;

South Fayette, 21st in Pennsylvania and 1,495 in U.S.;

North Hills, 22nd in Pennsylvania and 1,579 in U.S.;

Mt. Lebanon, 24nd in Pennsylvania and 1,637 in U.S.;

Chartiers Valley, 30th in Pennsylvania and 1,856 in U.S.

The High School Challenge does not include certain high-achieving magnet or charter high schools, the website states.

Earlier this month, best high school in the nation.

And in April, the Pittsburgh Business Times named Upper St. Clair the .

What do you think about the high school rankings? Tell us in the comments.

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