North Dropped From Newsweek's List of Best High Schools

North High School missed the cut as one of Newsweek magazine’s best American high schools of 2011, despite boosting its rank over last year when it made the list.

The list is a compilation of the top 500 U.S. high schools gleaned from more than 1,100 participants. North High was ranked 519 on the 2011 list compared to last year, when it placed 1,411th out of more than 1,600 schools.

“This year Newsweek changed its methodology to include other measures of success, including graduation rates, percent of graduates who enroll immediately in college, various test scores and the number of Advanced Placement courses offered,” said Jill Browning, District 99 communications director.

“While we improved our standing from last year, Newsweek chose only to report the top 500 schools this year due to the new methodology and resulting lack of a clear-cut off point.” 

In previous years, the “cut-off value” was the ratio of AP exams administered per graduating senior, according to the district. That ratio wasn’t used this year.

“They included all schools with a ratio greater than one,” Browning said. “They may include more schools in future years.”

South High School also failed to make the list.

Among the west suburban schools named America's Best High Schools by Newsweek were Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora (37), Hinsdale Central High School (69), Riverside Brookfield in Riverside (194), York Community in Elmhurst (257), St. Charles North in St. Charles (385), and Lyons Township in LaGrange (428),