Upper St. Clair Makes Newsweek's Top High School List

Newsweek released its list of the best public high schools in the country and ranked 244 out of the 1,000 schools.

Within Pennsylvania, Upper St. Clair was ranked the second best public high school—behind Conestoga in Berwyn.

"We are proud to be the number two ranked public high school in the state according to Newsweek's metrics. We are fortunate to have such high performing students, exceptional teachers and staff, and a community that supports education. However, our focus continues to be on the 'whole child'—not just our strong academic performance," Superintendent Patrick O'Toole told Patch.

Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy in Erie also ranked ahead of Upper St. Clair on the list, however, it is a charter and magnet school.

Fox Chapel Area ranked 488th in the nation, Mt. Lebanon ranked 518th, North Allegheny ranked 624th, ranked 627th, ranked 648th, and Hampton ranked 662nd.

To see the Pennsylvania schools that earned spots on the list, click here.

To see the full U.S. list, click here.

According to the magazine's article, “This year’s ranking highlights the best 1,000 public high schools in the nation—the ones that have proved to be the most effective in turning out college-ready grads."

Schools administrators provided Newsweek with six components for the rankings; the percentages in parentheses indicate the weight the categories carry in the review process: graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and AP courses offered per student (5 percent).

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 all of the high school rankings? Tell us in the comments.

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