Richards, OLCHS Listed Among Top 100 Schools In Illinois

OAK LAWN, IL -- For the second consecutive year, Oak Lawn Community High School and H.L. Richards High School both landed in the Top 100 of Illinois rankings on the U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools list. The 2018 best high school rankings were released Wednesday and evaluate more than 20,500 public high schools across the country. U.S. News identified schools that best serve all students and assessed how prepared students are for college-level work. Schools are also recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness.

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.

H.L. Richards High School in CHSD 218 landed in the 66th spot in Illinois rankings and 2,566th among the nation’s high schools. Richards has a student enrollment of 1,614, with an 85-percent graduation rate. The school scored 23.2 percent in college readiness. Thirty-seven percent of participate in advanced placement courses, with a 51-percent passing rate. Minority enrollment is 52 percent. Richards earned a silver medal in the rankings. To achieve a gold or silver medal, high schools must have a college readiness index of 20.91 or above.

>>> 8 Chicago High Schools Among Best In Illinois For 2018: US News

With a 90 percent graduation rate and 15.6 percent in college readiness score, Dist. 229 Oak Lawn Community High School earned an 80 ranking among Illinois schools. Twenty-five percent of high school’s 1,790 students participate in advanced placement classes, with a 50-percent pass rate. Minority enrollment is 34 percent, with 40 percent of the student body considered economically disadvantaged. The high school has 100 full-time teachers. OLCHS earned a bronze medal and is recognized in the national rankings.

Carl Sandburg High School in CHSD 230 was the only south suburban high school to crack the top 50 in Illinois rankings, landing in the 43rd spot.

Nine Chicago high schools earned gold medals, while 10 city schools received silver medals. Bronze medals were given to three Chicago high schools. In Illinois, Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago earned the title of the best high school in the state. Overall, the school ranked as the 52nd best high school in the country, followed by Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago in the number 2 spot among Illinois, and 82 nationally.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the social science research firm RTI International. A variety of data sources, including the Common Core of Data, College Board and the International Baccalaureate, were used.

A four-step process was used to rank all eligible schools. The first two steps were to determine whether students were performing better than statistically expected in the state and whether minority were performing at or better than the state average for minority students, which was the second step. The third step required schools to meet or surpass a certain graduation benchmark and the final step was to determine college readiness. (You can read the full methodology here.)

The top 10 high schools in the U.S. overall are:

1. BASIS Scottsdale (Arizona)
2. BASIS Chandler (Arizona)
3. BASIS Oro Valley (Arizona)
4. BASIS Tucson North (Arizona)
5. BASIS Flagstaff (Arizona)
6. Meridian School (Texas)
7. International Academy of Macomb (Michigan)
8. BASIS Peoria (Arizona)
9. Baccalaureate School for Global Education (New York)
10. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Virginia)