These Suburban High Schools Ranked Among the Best in Nation: Newsweek

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Is your high school among the best of the best in the suburbs?

How about the nation? Newsweek on Wednesday released its 2015 Top High Schools list and 30 Illinois schools were included among its top 500 schools in the U.S.

Here is a look at which Illinois schools made Newsweek’s list:

1. Payton College Preparatory High School, Chicago: No. 10 in the nation
2. Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago: No. 12 in the nation
3. New Trier Township High School, Winnetka: No. 14 in the nation
4. Lake Forest High School: No. 34 in the nation
5. Jones College Prep High School, Chicago: No. 46 in the nation
6. Naperville North High School, Naperville: No. 58 in the nation (Read more on Naperville Patch)
7. Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire: No. 82
8. Glenbrook High School, Glenview: No. 90 (Read more on Glenview Patch)
9. Naperville Central High School, Naperville: No. 95 (Read more on Naperville Patch)
10. William Fremd High School, Palatine: No. 104 in the nation (Read more on Palatine Patch)
11. Barrington High School, Barrington: No. 161
12. Lake Zurich High School, Lake Zurich: No. 175
13. John Hersey High School, Arlington Heights: No. 250 in the nation (Read more on Arlington Heights Patch)
14. Prairie Ridge High School, Crystal Lake: No. 251 (Read more on Crystal Lake-Cary Patch)
15. Grayslake Central High School, Grayslake: No. 262 (Read more on Grayslake Patch)
16. Highland Park High School, Highland Park: No. 263
17. Cary-Grove Community High School, Cary: No. 323 (Read more on Crystal Lake-Cary Patch)
18. Prospect High School, Mount Prospect: No. 346
19. Minooka Community High School, Minooka: No. 349
20. Morton High School, Morton: No. 364
21. Maine South High School, Park Ridge: No. 380
22. J B Conant High School, Hoffman Estates: No. 382 in the nation
23. St. Charles North High School, St. Charles: No. 387 (Read more on St. Charles Patch)
24. Wheaton North High School, Wheaton: No. 388 (Read more on Wheaton Patch)
25. Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora: No. 393 (Read more on Naperville Patch)
26. Hinsdale South High School, Darien: No. 415 (Read more on Hinsdale Patch)
27. Buffalo Grove High School, Buffalo Grove: No. 442 (Read more on Naperville Patch)
28. Dunlap High School, Dunlap: No. 467
29. Monticello High School, Monticello: No. 470
30. Metea Valley High School, Aurora: No. 497 (Read more on Naperville Patch)

The rankings were compiled using several metrics, including graduation rate, college enrollment rate, SAT and ACT scores, AP and IB scores and participation, teacher-student ratio and dropout rates.

“Some factors are more important, especially since our rankings focus on college readiness,” Jim Impoco, editor in chief of Newsweek, told Patch via email. “We place emphasis on criteria like college enrollment and graduation rate since we know that those are some of the biggest indicators of whether students are prepared for college.”

This year’s rankings were weighted by:

• Enrollment Rate—25 percent
• Graduation Rate—20 percent
• Weighted AP/IB/Dual Enrollment composite—17.5 percent
• Weighted SAT/ACT composite—17.5 percent
• Change in student enrollment between 9th-12th grades, to control for dropout rates—10 percent
• Counselor-to-Student Ratio—10 percent

See the full list on the Newsweek website.