Newsweek: Crescenta Valley High One of Nation's Best

Newsweek has named Crescenta Valley High School number 214 in its 2011 list of the 500 best public high schools in America.

The list highlights a number of reasons CV made the cut: a 98 percent graduation rate with 99 percent of students heading off to college, an average SAT score of 1162 and a student/teacher ratio of 35:1.

A school’s score is based on six components: graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), AP tests taken per graduate (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and AP courses offered (5 percent).

Other schools in the area that made the list were Diamond Bar High School (number 79), Westlake High School (number 104) and .

The top two high schools in the nation are both located in Dallas. Number one is the School of Science and Engineering Magnet, with 100 percent of grads going to college and an average SAT score of 1786. Number two is the School for the Talented and Gifted Magnet, with 93 percent of grads going to college and an average SAT score of 1885.

Read Newsweek’s complete list of America's Best High Schools for 2011.

Newsweek signed on a panel of experts—Wendy Kopp of Teach For America, Tom Vander Ark of Open Education Solutions (formerly executive director for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford professor of education and founder of the School Redesign Network—to develop a methodology "that fully reflects a school’s success turning out college-ready (and life-ready) students."