By Jason Schwartz
Two Boca Raton high schools recently garnered top spots in a 2015 report that ranks high schools across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Boca Raton High School and Spanish River High School finished 26th and 63rd respectively in the Niche Public High School Rankings.
Niche, which runs the better-known ranking site College Prowler, also ranked Suncoast Community High School in Riviera Beach as the sixth-best public high schools and Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts in West Palm Beach the ninth-best on the list of high schools in the state.
The website Niche.com compiled its list by ranking 14,431 high schools based on.
Niche, a company providing reviews and data on K-12 schools, colleges and neighborhoods nationwide, ranked 14,431 public high schools nationwide based on opinions from 280,000 students and parents, diversity data, health and safety data, academic considerations including standardized test scores, teachers and other factors. Academics held the most weight in the rankings.
Niche examined school assessment data, SAT and ACT scores, enrollment in Advanced Placement classes and graduation rates to calculate a school system’s academic score.
According to the site, “a high ranking indicates the school is an exceptional academic institution with a diverse set of high-achieving students who rate their experience very highly.”
The website based its rankings of private schools, elementary schools and school districts on similar considerations.
In April, the U.S. News & World Report released its 2014 Best High Schools rankings and ranked Boca Raton High School 33rd in Florida and 603rd in the nation. That list ranked Dreyfoos fifth and Suncoast eighth in the state.
An additional 834 schools received a grade but were not eligible for ranking. The list includes magnet, charter, and online schools. For more information, read the full methodology at https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-high-schools/best-overall/methodology/.