LIST: 8 Santa Clara Co. Schools Named Among Newsweek’s 2016 Top Public High Schools

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Newsweek’s latest list of the best public high schools in the country was released today, and included among the top institutions are eight Santa Clara County schools. Fifty-one total California high schools made the list, which ranked the 500 best high schools in the country.

Cupertino snagged the most slots on the list, with Monta Vista High School, Cupertino High School and Homestead all landing within the top 100 schools in the nation. Monta Vista was ranked 18th, Cupertino was ranked 35th and Homestead was ranked 74th.

In Palo Alto, Henry M. Gunn High School made the list at 253rd, while Palo Alto High School came in at 331st.

Meanwhile in Gilroy, Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy ranked 155th.

In San Jose, two schools-- Lynbrook High and Leland High-- were also ranked high, coming in at 29th and 90th respectively.

The top-ranking school in the state was Whitney (Gretchen) High School in Cerritos, which came in seventh nationwide. The school also ranked the highest in California for 2015.

Here's a look at all of the California high schools that made Newsweek's list and where they came in on the list: (Click here to view the full list of Newsweek's 500 best.)

The first number is the state ranking. The second number, in parenthesis, is the national ranking.

1. (7) Whitney (Gretchen) High School Cerritos
2. (18) Monta Vista High School Cupertino
3. (25) Northwood High School Irvine
4. (29) Lynbrook High School San Jose
5. (35) Cupertino High School Cupertino
6. (50) Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Rolling Hills Estates
7. (51) Oak Park High School Oak Park
8. (57) University High School Irvine
9. (69) Woodbridge High School Irvine
10. (74) Homestead High School Cupertino
11. (81) Redwood High School Larkspur
12. (83) Westview High School San Diego
13. (90) Leland High School San Jose
14. (100) Corona del Mar High School Newport Beach
15. (119) Westlake High School Westlake Village
16. (120) California High School San Ramon
17. (121) Monte Vista High School Danville
18. (124) Aragon San Mateo
19. (128) Diamond Bar High School Diamond Bar
20. (136) Classical Academy High School Escondido
21. (155) Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy Gilroy
22. (161) University High School Fresno
23. (164) Palisades Charter High School Pacific Palisades
24. (172) Yorba Linda High School Yorba Linda
25. (174) Palos Verdes High School Palos Verdes Estates
26. (200) Mira Loma High School Sacramento
27. (238) West High School Torrance
28. (245) Scotts Valley High School Scotts Valley
29. (252) Aliso Niguel High School Aliso Viejo
30. (253) Henry M. Gunn High School Palo Alto
31. (284) Nuview Bridge Early College High School Nuevo
32. (289) South High School Torrance
33. (295) Arnold O. Beckman High School Irvine
34. (303) Shasta High School Redding
35. (318) River Valley Charter School Lakeside
36. (321) Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy Wilmington
37. (323) Tesoro High School Las Flores
38. (326) Glendora High School Glendora
39. (331) Palo Alto High School Palo Alto
40. (333) Rio Americano High School Sacramento
41. (335) Trabuco Hills High School Mission Viejo
42. (346) Huntington Beach High School Huntington Beach
43. (352) Analy High School Sebastopol
44. (385) International Polytechnic High School Pomona
45. (393) Foothill Technology High School Ventura
46. (403) San Clemente High School San Clemente
47. (455) Walnut High School Walnut
48. (456) HighTech LA Van Nuys
49. (465) Maria Carrillo High School Santa Rosa
50. (475) Marina High School Huntington Beach
51. (494) William S. Hart High School Newhall

The school rankings are borne of legitimate research. Newsweek, along with the analytics firm Westat, uses legitimate and objective measurements to put together its annual ranking of the country’s best high schools.

Newsweek looked at six measurements and weighted them to come up with a “college readiness index.” The rankings are meant to show how well high schools do at preparing students for college.

Those measurements and their weight are:

• Holding power: 10 percent
• Ratio of counselor/full-time equivalent to student enrollment: 10 percent
• Weighted SAT/ACT: 17.5 percent
• Weighted AP/IB/dual enrollment composite: 17.5 percent
• Graduation rate: 20 percent
• College enrollment rate: 25 percent

In all, 6,477 of the nation’s 15,819 public high schools met the criteria to be considered in Newsweek’s rankings. Newsweek used school performance data from the National Center for Education Statistics to narrow down the list of schools.

Click here to view the full methodology. And you can view last year’s rankings here.

• Also see: 100 Best Private High Schools in California: 2016

--Renee Schiavone contributed to this report/Photo via Shutterstock