John Hersey High Ranked Among Best High Schools in Nation: Newsweek

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John Hersey High School has been ranked among the best high schools in the nation, according to the Newsweek Top High Schools list for 2015, which was released Wednesday morning.

Hersey High was ranked as No. 250 in the country. Newsweek found the graduation rate at Hersey was 95.5 percent while 94.9 percent of students were college-bound. Nearby, Fremd High School in Palatine also fared well in the Newsweek list, ranking No. 104 in the nation.

>>> RELATED: These Suburban High Schools Ranked Among Best in Nation: Newsweek

The only Illinois school to crack the top ten nationwide was Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago.

In 2013, Hersey High was ranked at No. 322 on the Newsweek list and in 2014, jumped to No. 89.

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.”

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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

Other high-performing schools in the Chicago suburbs include: New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, ranked 14th nationally; Lake Forest High School in Lake Forest (No. 34 nationally), Adlai E. Stevenson High School (No. 82 nationally), Barrington High School (No. 161 nationally) and Wheaton North High School (No. 388 in the nation).