Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy is among the top 25 high schools in California, according to recently released U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 Best High School Rankings.
The Gilroy Unified School District school was awarded a gold medal for its accomplishment as the 23rd best in the state out of a pool of 2,100. It was also ranked 172nd among 20,500 public high schools evaluated across the country by the U.S. News & World Report.
Gilroy High School got a silver medal, with rankings of 480th in state and 2,451st nationally. Christopher High School was unranked.
In Morgan Hill, Ann Sobrato High School was ranked 99th in the state and 450th in the nation. Live Oak High School went unranked, as did San Benito High School in Hollister.
The purpose of the rankings was “to identify schools that best serve all of their students—including historically underserved populations—and assess the degree to which students are prepared for college-level coursework,” according to the report.
Schools are awarded gold, silver, or bronze medals based on their performance on state assessments, graduation rates and how well they prepared students for college.
The top four high schools in the U.S. News & World Report state rankings were Whitney High School in Cerritos, Oxford Academy in Cypress, Stockton Collegiate International Secondary and KIPP San Jose Collegiate.
“Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students,” said Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News. “We encourage parents to use the Best High Schools rankings and data to research which schools in their state and nationwide are ensuring students are well-equipped for the future.”
The rankings, which can be viewed on usnews.com, feature data on a number of factors, including enrollment, graduation rates, diversity, participation in free and reduced-price lunch programs and the results of state assessments, as well as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test data.
