All York High Schools Make Top 1 Percent in Newsweek Survey

By Amber Lester Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Four York County high schools have been named among the best in the nation in Newsweek Magazine’s annual tally of the top public schools.

Bruton, Tabb, Grafton and York High Schools all made the cut of 1,623 schools to be called one of the best. York ranked highest, at #270; Bruton was ranked #491, Tabb was ranked #651 and Grafton was ranked #877.

The rankings are based on the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge (AICE) tests given at a school each year and divide by the number of graduating seniors. York High is home to the county's International Baccalaureate program. Newsweek then places any schools achieving a ratio of at least 1.000 on the list because that means the school had as many tests in 2009 as they had graduates. Each list is based on the previous year’s data; the list has been published since 1998. The list does not include magnet or charter schools. Find more detailed information about how the rankings are calculated here.

York Superintendent Eric Williams said the division was pleased to be named among the top 1,000 schools, but noted the magazine uses a narrow ranking. “We’ve had a very large increase in the number of kids scoring threes, fours and fives on AP tests in the last few years, so I’m not surprised,” he said. “This list recognizes that.”

In a frequently-asked-questions section, Newsweek reporter Jay Mathews wrote that the magazine uses AP and IB enrollment because teacher quality, extracurricular activities and other factors are too subjective for rankings, while participation in challenging courses and tests can be counted.

Other Hampton Roads schools on the list included: Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach (#122); Warwick High School in Newport News (#412); Granby High School in Norfolk (#529); Cox High School in Virginia Beach (#659); Hampton High School in Hampton (#845); Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach (#853); Menchville High School in Newport News (#880); Kellam High School in Virginia Beach (#1123) and First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach (#1132). To see the entire list, click here.