Academic Magnet ranked among best public high schools in nation

Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston is ranked No. 12 on this year’s Newsweek magazine ranking of top public high schools nationwide.

Twenty-two high schools in South Carolina made the list of the top 1,500, but none ranked as high as Academic Magnet. The next S.C. school on the list is Greenville’s Southside High, at No. 229.

No other Charleston-area high schools made the list.

Academic Magnet High School ranked No. 7 on last year’s list.

Newsweek surveyed more than 27,000 high schools nationwide. To calculate the index, the magazine takes the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests given at a school in May and divides it by the number of seniors graduating in May or June.

According to Newsweek, participation in challenging courses and tests is used as a primary measure because it can be quantified in a meaningful way for a ranking, unlike teacher quality, extracurricular activities and other more subjective factors.

The magazine explains more about its ranking system on its Web site.