7 High Schools Among Best in U.S.

The Washington Post’s 2015 rankings of America’s top high schools includes seven schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. The rankings include schools in only the top 11 percent of the approximately 22,000 U.S. public high schools in terms of their ability to offer rigorous college prep instruction.

"Congratulations to our high schools on this well deserved national recognition,” said LBUSD Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser.  “We continue to expand access to Advanced Placement college prep courses and exams so that more students can prepare for college and earn college credit while still in high school, often saving families thousands of dollars in tuition.”

The Post calculates a Challenge Index by dividing the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2014 by the number of graduating seniors.

The report by the Post includes the percentage of students receiving subsidized lunches, a figure illustrating the poverty challenges that schools face.

Local high schools' national rankings on the report (with the percentage of students receiving subsidized lunches) are:

868 – Wilson (56% subs. lunch)
964 – California Academy of Mathematics and Science (47% subs. lunch)
1,068 – Millikan (52% subs. lunch)
1,246 – Poly (59% subs. lunch)
1,651 – Lakewood (50% subs. lunch)
1,811 – Renaissance (55% subs. lunch)
1,890 – Avalon (72% subs. lunch)

Each of these schools has repeatedly appeared on the Post's annual rankings.