Mercer Island HS Ranked Among Best In WA: U.S. News

MERCER ISLAND, WA - Three Washington state high schools ranked among the 100 best in the U.S., according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 rankings of best high schools in the country. The highest ranked Washington school on the list was Bellevue's International School, the No. 18 best high school in the country.

The 2018 best high school rankings were released on Wednesday and evaluate over 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.

In total, nine Washington schools received a gold medal, 38 received a silver medal and 41 schools received a bronze medal. The Bellevue School District dominated the "gold" rankings with three out of nine schools.

“Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students,” Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News, said in a press release.

Here’s how Washington's schools ranked in the state. Schools ranked one to nine earned gold medals, the rest earned silver. Bronze medal schools are not ranked by U.S. News.

1. International School Bellevue School District
2. International Community School Kirkland, Lake Washington School District
3. Harrison Preparatory School, Lakewood, Clover Park School District
4. Aviation High School, Tukwila
5. Interlake Senior High School, Bellevue School District
6. Bellevue High School, Bellevue School District
7. Roosevelt High School, Seattle School District
8. Bainbridge High School, Bainbridge Island School District
9. Mercer Island High School, Mercer Island School District
10. Garfield High School, Seattle School District
11. Bridgeport High School, Bridgeport School District
12. Sammamish Senior High, Bellevue School District
13. Orcas Island High School, Orcas Island School District
14. Pullman High School, Pullman School District
15. Ballard High School, Seattle Public Schools
16. Liberty Bell Jr Sr High, Methow Valley School District
17. Henry M. Jackson High School, Everett School District
18. Mount Si High School, Snoqualmie Valley School District
19. Camas High School, Camas School District
20. Vancouver Itech Preparatory, Vancouver School District
21. Redmond High, Lake Washington School District
22. Shorewood High School, Shoreline School District
23. Shorecrest High School, Shoreline School District
24. Lake Washington High, Lake Washington School District
25. Juanita High, Lake Washington School District
26. Curtis Senior High, University Place School District
27. Bellingham High School, Bellingham School District
28. Kamiak High School, Mukilteo School District
29. Davenport Senior High School, Davenport School District
30. Ferris High School, Spokane School District
31. Lakes High School, Clover Park School District
32. Franklin Pierce High School, Franklin Pierce School District
33. North Kitsap High School, North Kitsap School District
34. Health Sciences and Human Services, Highline School District
35. Nathan Hale High School, Seattle Public Schools
36. Inglemoor High School, Northshore School District
37. Bothell High School, Northshore School District
38. Central Valley High School, Central Valley School District
39. Everett High School, Everett School District
40. Glacier Peak High School, Snohomish School District
41. Franklin High School Seattle, WA | Seattle Public Schools
42. Science and Math Institute Tacoma, WA | Tacoma School District
43. Technology, Engineering & Communications Seattle, WA | Highline School District
44. University High School (Spokane Valley) Spokane, WA | Central Valley School District
45. Bonney Lake High School Bonney Lake, WA | Sumner School District
46. Prosser High School Prosser, WA | Prosser School District
47. Cleveland High School Seattle, WA | Seattle Public Schools
48. Medical Lake High School Medical Lake, WA | Medical Lake School District

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 (AZ)
2. BASIS Chandler (AZ)
3. BASIS Oro Valley (AZ)
4. BASIS Tucson North (AZ)
5. BASIS Flagstaff (AZ)
6. Meridian School (TX)
7. International Academy of Macomb (MI)
8. BASIS Peoria (AZ)
9. Baccalaureate School for Global Education (NY)
10. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)

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

Image courtesy Mercer Island School District