U.S. News announces Stillman Valley High School earned high national, metro-area rankings in 2021 Best High Schools

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U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in education rankings, today unveiled the 2021 Best High Schools. The new edition ranks more than 17,800 public high schools throughout the country, measuring how well schools serve students from various social and economic backgrounds. Stillman Valley High School earned high National and metro-area rankings in 2021 Best High Schools, which U.S. News released on April 27.

The top 10 schools in the national ranking represent 10 different states, demonstrating that high-quality public high schools can be found throughout the U.S.  Among all ranked schools, 35.3 percent are in rural or remote areas and 24.6 percent are in cities. Among just the top 5 percent of ranked schools, 7.2 percent are in rural or remote areas and 42.3 percent are in cities.

“Families can use the Best High Schools rankings to see how schools compare at the national, state and local level on factors like graduation rates and college readiness,” said Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News. “The rankings also provide insight into academic performance among underserved groups.”

The methodology focuses on six factors: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates. College readiness specifically measures participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams. The data used in this edition is from the 2018-2019 academic school year, and therefore was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alongside the national rankings, U.S. News published rankings at the state, metro area and school district levels. Only metro areas and school districts with three or more high schools were included in these subrankings.

The Best High Schools rankings are available exclusively on USNews.com and include data on a variety of factors, such as enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price lunch programs, graduation rates and the results of state assessments. U.S. News worked with RTI International, a global research firm, to implement the comprehensive ranking methodology.

Meridian CUSD 223 is proud to be recognized with this prestigious honor for the 5th consecutive year. This is an incredible accomplishment for any district, but in particular for a district that had not been honored prior to this streak.

Dr. PJ Caposey, Superintendent of Schools, noted, “This is an incredible honor for all Meridian students and staff. While the recognition goes to the high school, this is the composite of the work done through 13 years of schooling to serve these students. I could not be more proud of our kids and our staff. It is a great day to be Cardinal.”