Both St. Charles North and East High Schools placed in the U.S. News and World Report’s lists of Top 50 public high schools in Illinois and Top 1,000 public high schools in the country.
For the fourth consecutive year, the two high schools have placed high on the list of top schools in the state and nation, according to the 2015 U.S. News and World Report’s Best High School Rankings.
“I think that, from a comparison group of schools, it’s where want to be right now,” said District 303 Superintendent Don Schlomann. “We want to be one of the top high schools in the state of Illinois.”
The list is derived from data from almost 29,000 public schools from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among Illinois public high schools, St. Charles North ranks 35th and St. Charles East ranks 42nd, according to the rankings.
The two St. Charles District 303 schools are the only Kane County high schools to appear in the Top 60 among Illinois public high schools. District 303 comprises students from Kane County and a portion of DuPage County.
To produce the 2015 rankings, U.S. News and World Report teamed with North-Carolina based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, according to the U.S. News and World Report’s website. The best high schools were then determined through a three-step process.
First, schools are evaluated by their overall performance on state-required tests. Schools are then analyzed by how effectively they educate their disadvantaged students, such as blacks, Hispanics and low-income students.
Third, schools are assessed by the degree to which they prepare their students for college-level work, based on students’ success in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.
Schlomannsaid the rankings were a reflection of the hard work of the high schools’ staff and students, as well as the District 303 community.
“While I don’t want us to get too high or too low, I’m very grateful for the efforts our community puts into our schools,” he said.
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