The Best High Schools in America
NEWSWEEK studied more than 1,000 top schools to determine the best of the best: the ones producing kids ready for college—and life.
Chris Mcpherson for NewsweekGraduates at University High School in Irvine, CA.
On any given morning, the halls of the School of Science and Engineering in Dallas look like most public high schools—nondescript classrooms packed with bleary-eyed students bent over ponderous textbooks. The difference is the time: this scene plays out each school day at 7:30 a.m., 90 minutes before class officially starts, and it will repeat for a solid hour after the day’s final bell, as students at this magnet school cram in as much daily, organized study as possible.
The discipline is systemic—teachers sit shoulder to shoulder with the students during this extra study time—and it’s nurtured before matriculation. Incoming freshmen spend the last weeks of summer in “boot camp” to learn math and Java programming. Last year, all 86 seniors graduated, had an average SAT score of 1786, and went to college, even though most of them qualify for a subsidized school lunch. Science and Engineering’s system works so well, in fact, that it landed the No. 1 spot on NEWSWEEK’S annual list of the top public high schools in America.