2 Cinco Ranch schools among Newsweek’s ”top public high schools”
Cinco Ranch High School and Seven Lakes High School – the two Katy ISD high schools all Cinco Ranchstudents are zoned to attend – are among the top 1,500 public high schools in the nation, according to a new report by Newsweek magazine.
The 1,500 schools on the Newsweek list represent the top 6 percent of the nation’s 27,000 public high schools, ranked based on the number of students who take Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests at a school, divided by the number of graduating seniors.
Seven Lakes ranked 403 on the list, and Cinco Ranch ranked 458.
“The fact that Seven Lakes and Cinco Ranch ranked in the top third of the Newsweek list vaults both schools into the top 2 percent of public high schools nationwide, measured in this way,” said Heather Gould, marketing director for Newland Communities, developer of the 7,600-acre Cinco Ranch community. “We salute all the students, teachers, parents and other community members who have helped Seven Lakes and Cinco Ranch achieve these very laudable rankings.”
All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000 (meaning that they had as many tests as graduates), explained the Newsweek researchers.
A school can reach the 1.000 level only if half of its students take one AP, IB or Cambridge test in their junior year and one in their senior year. Cinco Ranch High School had an index of 2.21, and the index for Seven Lakes High School was 2.32.
The methodology for the Newsweek study rewards schools that increased the overall number of students who take and pass AP, IB and Cambridge tests, instead of only those that encourage a low percentage of high-performing students to participate. According to Newsweek researchers, students perform better in college after having this testing experience even if they score low on some exams.