HOUSTON
The school district now has 25 campuses noted in the list of America's Best High Schools. In 2010, 16 schools were mentioned and only seven in preceding year.
Only 1,905 of about 27,000 public high schools in the U.S. met the standards to be included on The High School Challenge list, which also breaks down the best schools by state. Only 149 Texas high schools made the list. Nearly 6 percent are HISD schools.
"These national rankings indicate that we are heading in the right direction by increasing academic rigor and access to college-level courses and exams," HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier said in a prepared statement. "Five of the top 25 Texas schools are HISD schools. No other Houston-area public or charter school is represented in the top 25."
This year, three HISD schools also made the Top 100. Carnegie Vanguard High School jumped to number 13 from 29 in 2010; DeBakey High School for Health Profession came in at number 61, which is up from 70 last year. Eastwood Academy, which is new to the list, is number 37. This year the list moved from Newsweek to the Washington Post.
All 16 of the HISD schools that made last year's list are back on the 2011 list and are underlined below:
2011 Rank School Name
13 -- Carnegie Vanguard
37 -- Eastwood Academy
61 -- Debakey High School for Health Professions
127 -- Bellaire
168 -- High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
178 -- High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
236 -- Westside
283 -- Lee
375 -- Furr
478 -- Challenge Early College
565 -- Westbury
627 -- Chavez
769 -- Sharpstown
916 -- Lamar
1008 -- Austin
1193 -- Waltrip
1224 -- Empowerment College Prep
1231 -- Houston Academy of International Studies
1239 -- Milby
1253 -- Reagan
1278 -- Davis
1360 -- Mt Carmel Academy
1367 -- Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center
1444 -- East Early College
1654 -- Scarborough
