SMCHS, Tesoro Among Top 1,000 Schools Nationally

Each year as part of its High School Challenge, the Washington Post ranks the top 1,000 high schools in the United States.

Santa Margarita was ranked No. 18 among all the private schools listed.

Considering that there are more than 37,000 high schools in the U.S., making the list of the top 1,000 is highly prestigious.  

The acknowledgment recognizes the academic excellence at SMCHS and the exceptional job teachers do toward preparing students for the future.     

In years past, the Post only ranked America's public high schools, but this year, it sought out the best private high schools as well. Santa Margarita was the No. 1 ranked private school in Orange County.

No other private or Catholic high school in the county made the national rankings.  

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The rankings were based on how a school provides a challenging college-prep experience for as many students at the school as possible. The Post measured the number of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate or other college level tests a school gave in 2010 and divided by the number of graduating seniors to provide an index number. The higher the so-called "Challenge Index" number, the higher the ranking.

SMCHS ranked No. 18 out of the more than 11,000 private high schools in the United States (top 1.6 percent of all private high schools), and No. 556 among all the 37,000-plus high schools in America (top 1.5 percent).

Santa Margarita had an index rating of 2.535. The No. 1 school in the nation was BASIS Tucson (Ariz.) with an index of 19.522. The top 100 schools all had index numbers of 5.000 or above.

The highest rated school in Orange County was Oxford Academy in Cypress, which was ranked No. 27 overall and had an index of 7.374. Troy High in Fullerton was No. 131 with an index of 4.535.

Other south Orange County high schools were:

• Corona del Mar, No. 273, with an index rating of 3.480
• Newport Harbor, No. 548, with an index rating of 2.616
• Laguna Beach, No. 773, with an index rating of 2.228
• Dana Hills, No. 880, with an index rating of 2.107
• Tesoro, No. 900, with an index rating of 2.072
• San Clemente, No. 944, with an index rating of 2.025
• Capistrano Valley, No. 1,039, with an index rating of 1.897
• Aliso Niguel, No. 1,069, with an index rating of 1.875
• Mission Viejo, No. 1,336, with an index rating of 1.613
• Trabuco Hills, No. 1,736, with an index rating of 1.225
• El Toro, No. 1,945, with an index rating of 1.013

To see the complete rankings of Private High Schools and all High Schools, please see the Washington Post article here.