(June 22, 2009)—Eighty-three Maryland schools made Newsweek’s Top 1500 U.S. High Schools, which was released June 8. Nine of those schools are located in southern Maryland,
with La Plata High School placing first among the group.
The local schools who made the list, including their ranking are:
-- #390 La Plata High School, up from #649 in 2008 and #994 in 2005;
-- #500 Huntingtown High School, up from #575 in 2008 and #878 in 2006;
-- #545 Patuxent High School, up from #745 in 2003, but down from #381 in 2007;
-- #708 M.J. McDonough High School in Pomfret, down from #272 in 2007;
-- #831 Leonardtown High School, down from the preceding four year's
rankings of 616, 342, 372, and 783 in 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 respectively;
-- #1078 Great Mills High School, also the lowest ranking of the previous four years;
-- #1399 Lackey High School in Indian Head;
-- # 1464 Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf, down significantly from 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008 rankings of 386, 261, 588, and 973; and
-- Just making the cut at #1500 is Westlake High School in Waldorf, also down significantly from the four previous year's rankings.
According to newsweek.com, “Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 6 percent of public schools measured this way.”
“This is tremendous news for the State of Maryland,” remarked Gov. Martin O'Malley in a statement. “We have the best public schools in America and it’s not just because Education Week ranked Maryland Number one this past January - it is because our test scores are up in every county, in every grade, in every subject and across every single demographic line. White students, black students, high income and low income students of all ages are all testing higher today than they did five years ago.”
A list of the 83 schools and their ranking can be found at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/201160/?s=Maryland&q=2009/rank/1 .