Every year, Newsweek ranks “America’s Best High Schools.” This year, a new methodology for ranking the nation’s top high schools was used, raising Ladue Horton Watkins High School from last year’s ranking of 282 in the country, to 103.
In the past, high schools must have given more Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or Cambridge (AICE) tests than the number of seniors graduating in order to make the list. This year, the methodology was changed to reflect “a school’s success turning out college-ready (and life-ready) students,” according to Newsweek. “To this end, each school’s score is comprised of six weighted components: graduation rate (25%), college matriculation rate (25%), AP tests taken per graduate (25%), average SAT/ACT scores (10%), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10%), and AP courses offered (5%).”
“We’ve always been proud to make this list,” states Dr. Bridget Hermann, principal of Ladue Horton Watkins High School. “However, this new methodology provides a more comprehensive and multi-dimensional view of the nation’s schools. So, to have moved up 179 positions in the ranking as a result of the new process is a true testament to the amazing work being done by our students and teachers.”
Five schools in Missouri made the list of 500 schools nationally. Ladue Horton Watkins High School’s ranks third in the state behind Clayton High School (89) and Metro Academic and Classical High School (93) and is trailed by Lincoln College Preparatory Academy in Kansas City (124) and Rockwood Summit in Fenton (290).