U.S. News and World Report has released its annual list of the top-performing high schools in the country.

On that list, Decatur High School is ranked 17th in the state of Georgia, #476 nationwide and received a “Gold” award from the publication.  You can view a more detailed version of Decatur’s ranking HERE.

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology in Lawrenceville was the #1 ranked school in the state.

U.S. News uses a 3 step methodology to determine ranks.

• Step 1: The first step determined whether each school’s students were performing better than statistically expected for students in their state.
• Step 2: For schools passing this first step, the second step assessed whether their disadvantaged students – black, Hispanic and low-income – were outperforming disadvantaged students in the state.
• Step 3: Schools that made it through the first two steps became eligible to be judged nationally on the final step – college-readiness performance – using Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test data as the benchmarks for success, depending on which program was largest at the school.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia