Mainland Among the 50 Best Schools in the State, Says U.S. News and World Report

Mainland Regional High School made the list of top high schools in the state of New Jersey as identified by U.S. News and World Report.

Mainland, based in Linwood, was ranked No. 41, while the Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT) fell just outside the top 50.

Mainland's student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, which is higher than the New Jersey average. The school has 1,550 students and 99 teachers. Its College Readiness score is 35.3, which is higher than the New Jersey average, and students scored a 3.2 proficiency in Math and 3.3 in Language Arts, both higher than the state average.

ACIT, based out of Mays Landing, had a student-to-teacher ratio of 11:1, which is below the state average. The school has 748 students and 66 teachers. Its College Readiness Score is 1.1, below the state average, and scored 3.1 proficiencies in both Math and Language Arts, which is near the state average.

No other schools from Atlantic County, including the Greater Egg Harbor Regional School District, made the state's top 50.

Click here to see the complete list of rankings.

The 2013 Best High Schools rankings, released this week, can help parents wade through the ever expanding options of public high schools, according to the magazine. U.S. News collected data on more than 21,000 public high schools from 49 states and the District of Columbia, the magazine reported.

[View FAQs about the Best High Schools rankings.]

According to U.S. News: The publication joined forces with the American Institutes for Research, a D.C.-based organization, to evaluate schools on overall student performance on state-mandated assessments, as well as how effectively schools educated their black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. Performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams was then used to determine the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work, according to the publication.