Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire recently was named the best public high school in the country by rankings website Niche.
Niche, a website that compiles data and produces rankings of schools, colleges and neighborhoods in the U.S., also listed the Illinois and Mathematics Science Academy in west suburban Aurora as the second best public high school in the country.
The national rankings also lists Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School in Lake County as the 23rd and 37th best in the country. Niche’s national rankings included other school districts in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
Although Stevenson officials appreciated the national recognition, they’re focused on making sure students succeed, said spokesman Jim Conrey.
“We’re always honored any time an organization ranks us highly,” Conrey said. “But we try not to get too worked up over these things. A lot of the time, it depends on the criteria being used for the ranking.”
Niche based its public high school rankings on an analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education, along with test scores, college data and ratings collected from Niche users, according to its website.
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Niche staffers weighed the opinions of students and parents because they felt the rankings should also consider how students feel about their education, said Jessica Hair, marketing outreach coordinator for Niche. The rankings also accounted for the quality of school facilities, extracurricular activities and other factors, according to its website.
The national rankings assessed 18,793 U.S. public high schools, Niche’s website stated.
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