Newsweek Ranks Mystic Valley 116th Best Public High School in the Country

Newsweek Magazine has ranked Mystic Valley Regional Charter School the 116^th best public school in the country. 

The charter school also emerges as the fourth best public high school in Massachusetts, behind Boston Latin School, Hopkinton and Belmont. 

It’s the third year that the magazine has recognized the school in its annual study of the top 500 public schools nationwide, according to a press release from the school.

When ranking schools, the magazine primarily considered the how many Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams each student in the class of 2010 took, how many students graduated and how many were headed to college. It also considered to a lesser extent students’ average SAT scores, average AP/IB/AICE scores and the number of AP or IB courses the schools offered. 

The magazine recognized the school in part because all its students graduated and headed to a two or four-year college. Students scored an average of 1592 points on the SAT and took an average of 2.8 AP or IB tests. 

The assistant director for the high school, George Benzie, welcomed the recognition.

“We are extremely proud of the dedication and work ethic of our students and their teachers,” he said. “As a school, we strive to keep expectations high and stress the importance of continuing on into higher education. The Newsweek rating reaffirms the fact that we, as a community, are succeeding”