Newsweek’s Top Public High Schools 2016: Lake Oswego is the Top Oregon School

National acclaim for Lake Oswego High School.

They are the only metro-area school to make Newsweek’s list of the 500 best public high schools in the country. Henry Sheldon High School in Eugene was the only other Oregon school to make the list.

The school rankings are borne of legitimate research. Newsweek uses legitimate and objective measurements to put together its annual ranking of the country’s best high schools.

Last year, no Oregon high school made the list so having two is a positive step.

Lake Oswego High School was ranked 179th out of 500. The school's 97.6 percent graduation rate and the fact that 92 percent of its students went to college helped.

So, how did Newsweek come up with the rankings?

Newsweek looked at six measurements and weighted them to achieve a “college readiness index.” The rankings show how well high schools prepare students for college.

Those measurements and their weight are:

• Holding power: 10 percent

• Ratio of counselor/full-time equivalent to student enrollment: 10 percent
• Weighted SAT/ACT: 17.5 percent
• Weighted AP/IB/dual enrollment composite: 17.5 percent
• Graduation rate: 20 percent

• College enrollment rate: 25 percent

The state's only other school to make the cut - Henry D. Sheldon High School in Eugene, which ranked 327

In all, 6,477 of the nation’s 15,819 public high schools met the criteria to be considered in Newsweek’s rankings.

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