5 Indy-Area High Schools Among Best In Indiana For 2018: US News

ACROSS INDIANA — Indianapolis-area high schools take up a significant amount of space U.S. News & World Report's 2018 rankings of the best high schools in Indiana, with five local Patch town schools included in the state's top 10, according to the magazine. Herron High School in Indianapolis was ranked 2nd in the state and number 252 in the country. Right behind it? Zionsville High School in 3rd and number 271 in the country.

The 2018 best high school rankings were released Wednesday and evaluate more than 20,500 public high schools. U.S. News identified schools that best serve all students and assessed how prepared students are for college-level work. Schools are also recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness.

Among Indiana schools in the 2018 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, four are gold medal schools, 39 are silver medal schools and 79 are bronze medal schools.

Here's a look at the top 10 Indiana high schools, along with how the schools ranked nationally, according to U.S. News:

1. Signature School, Evansville (17) - Gold

2. Herron High School, Indianapolis (252) - Gold

3. Zionsville Community High School, Zionsville (271) - Gold

4. West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School, West Lafayette (450) - Gold

5. Carmel High School, Carmel (709)

6. Hamilton Southeastern High School, Fishers, (768)

7. Munster High School, Munster (881)

8. Floyd Central High School, Floyd Knobs (1007)

9. Fishers High School, Fishers (1050)

10. Yorktown High School, Yorktown (1164)

To determine the rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the social science research firm RTI International. A variety of data sources, including the Common Core of Data, College Board and the International Baccalaureate, were used.

A four-step process was used to rank all eligible schools. The first two steps were to determine whether students were performing better than statistically expected in the state and whether minority were performing at or better than the state average for minority students, which was the second step. The third step required schools to meet or surpass a certain graduation benchmark and the final step was to determine college readiness. (You can read the full methodology here.)

The top 10 high schools in the U.S. overall are:

1. BASIS Scottsdale (Arizona)
2. BASIS Chandler (Arizona)
3. BASIS Oro Valley (Arizona)
4. BASIS Tucson North (Arizona)
5. BASIS Flagstaff (Arizona)
6. Meridian School (Texas)
7. International Academy of Macomb (Michigan)
8. BASIS Peoria (Arizona)
9. Baccalaureate School for Global Education (New York)
10. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Virginia)

Click here to see the full rankings and for more insight on the data.

Photo credit: Rebecca Bream