Dist. 218 High Schools Ranked Among Top 100 in Illinois

The annual U.S. News & World Report list of best high schools in the country was released this week. Dist. 218 high schools -- Richards, Shepard and Eisenhower -- landed in the top 100 of Illinois rankings.
Illinois has 1,519 high schools, including 1,188 public schools and 331 private schools. Illinois ranks fifth in student enrollment and fifth in total number of schools among U.S. states. Illinois ranks 12th in student/teacher ratio and 30th for percentage of students on free or reduced lunches, according to HighSchools.com.

None of the south suburban schools were ranked in the top 40 of the state while several schools in the north suburbs, west suburbs and city of Chicago were. Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park came in at No. 45 in Illinois rankings and No. 1,396 nationally.

H.L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn landed in the No. 62 spot and ranked 1,974 nationally. Richards has a 83 percent graduation rate and scored 28.4 percent in college readiness. The school earned a “silver medal” in the rankings.

With an 81 percent graduation rate and 26.4 percent in college readiness, Alan B. Shepard High School in Palos Heights also scored a silver medal. Shepard landed No. 68 in Illinois and No. 2148 nationally, according to the U.S. News and World rankings.

Dwight D. Eisenhower High School was ranked 86th in the state and earned a bronze medal. Schools that received bronze medals were not ranked numerically in the national rankings. Eisenhower has an 80 percent graduation rate and scored 17.1 percent in college readiness. To achieve a gold or silver medal, high schools must have a college readiness index of 20.91 or above.

RELATED: Best High Schools in Illinois

In Illinois, Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago earned the title of the best high school in the state. Overall, the school ranked as the 40th best high school in the country. Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago ranked as the second best in the state, followed by Jones College Prep High School, also in Chicago. Fourteen Illinois high schools were given gold medals by U.S. News, 67 received silver medals and the remaining 24 schools received bronze medals.

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Patch National Editor Shannon Antinori contributed to this report.