U.S. News Best High Schools 2019: See Where Moon Is Ranked

MOON TOWNSHIP, PA - Ten southwestern Pennsylvania high schools ranked among America's thousand best, according to US News’ & World Report's 2019 rankings of the nation’s best best high schools. Although Moon wasn't among them, the high school ranked among the state's top 350.

Moon was rated the 99th best high school in Pennsylvania.

U.S. News & World Report, which released its rankings on Tuesday, is the gold standard for education rankings and is widely considered the global authority. Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at US News, said the aim of the rankings is to give families more information about the schools in their district.

"By evaluating more schools than ever before, the new edition expands that focus so all communities can see which schools in their area are successfully serving their students — including historically underserved populations," Narayan said in a release.

There are 688 high schools in 583 school districts across the state. Here are the southwestern Pennsylvania schools ranked among Pennsylvania top 350. National rankings also are noted:

9. Upper St. Clair (444th nationally.)
13. Quaker Valley (577).
15. North Allegheny (618)
17. Hampton (712)
18. Mt. Lebanon (730)
19. Peters (739)
20. Pittsburgh CAPA (773)
21. Pine-Richland (794)
23. Fox Chapel (810)
29: Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy (980).
32. South Fayette
42. Avonworth
90. Pittsburgh Obama
98. North Hills
99. Moon Area
114. Thomas Jefferson
131. Chartiers Valley
133. Canon-McMillan
135. Riverview
146. Gateway
156. West Allegheny
165. Seneca Valley
166. Plum
178. Pittsburgh Allderdice
187. Montour
237. South Park
259. Keystone Oaks
266. Deer Lakes
271. Carlynton
277. Bethel Park
279. Springdale
313. Brentwood
320. Baldwin
338. Pittsburgh Carrick
340. Shaler

The factors considered in compiling the list include college readiness; reading and math proficiency; reading and math performance; underserved student performance; college curriculum breadth; and graduation rates. College readiness measures participation and performance on advanced placement and international baccalaureate exams.

The data also take into account school enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price meal programs, graduation rates and the results of state assessment tests. U.S. News worked with the global research firm RTI International to rank the schools.

"We enhanced the methodology to provide an even more comprehensive ranking that is easier to understand and, therefore, more useful to parents and educators," Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, said in a news release. "Now, each school's score correlates to its national
percentile — a school with a score of 70 is in the 70th percentile and ranks higher than 70 percent of schools. Going forward, this methodology will allow for intuitive comparisons of a school's performance year after year."