Two Gwinnett High Schools Ranked Most Challenging In Georgia

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Two Gwinnett County high schools rank atop the state in a new ranking of the most challenging campuses in the country.

The America's Most Challenging High Schools ranking, by the Washington Post, counts the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests are given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors that graduated that year.

Duluth High School was Georgia's top-ranking school in the survey, ranking No. 23 on the nationwide list.

The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology finished second in the state, coming in at No. 41 on the list.

Other top finishing Gwinnett County schools included Meadowcreek at No. 315, Archer at No. 467, Brookwood at No. 574 and Norcross at No. 703. Parkview finished at No. 717 and Peachtree Ridge at No. 726.

This year's list showed a sustained increase in the number of schools that qualify through advance testing participation, even though the vast majority of U.S. school still do not make the list, author Jay Mathews wrote.

In 1998, the first year the rankings were done, only about one percent of U.S. high schools qualified. The number this year was about 12 percent.

The top 10 ranked schools in Georgia were:

• 23. Duluth High School
• 41. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology
• 87. Alan Pope High School
• 140. Westminster
• 146. St. Andrew's
• 188. Alpharetta High School
• 189. Columbus High School
• 216. Walton High School
• 220. Decatur High School
• 252. Savannah Arts Academy

Photo courtesy Gwinnett County Public Schools