Four GCS High Schools Earn Top Rankings in U.S. News Best High Schools Report
Wade Hampton, Mauldin, Greenville Senior High Academy, and Riverside High Schools are among the top-ranked high schools in South Carolina and the nation, according to the 2016 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings. The schools earned Silver Medals for their accomplishments.
- Wade Hampton High ranks #4 in South Carolina and #888 in the nation.
- Mauldin High ranks #9 in South Carolina and #1,298 in the nation.
- Greenville Sr. High Academy ranks #11 in South Carolina and #1,452 in the nation.
- Riverside High ranks #14 in South Carolina and #1,611 in the nation.
The U.S. News rankings include data on more than 28,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college.
To produce the 2016 Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News & World Report teamed with North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm.
RTI implemented the U.S. News comprehensive rankings methodology, which is based on these key principles: that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are college bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show it is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.
In a major change to the Best High Schools rankings methodology, U.S. News added a new step this year focused on graduation rates. High schools must meet or exceed a national standard high school graduation rate to be considered top-performing schools and to be ranked at a national level.
This marks the first time graduation rates have been used in ranking high schools at this scale. As part of this effort, U.S. News has published graduation rates for all high schools on its website for the first