Top of the Class: U.S. News And World Report Ranks Local High Schools

It's no secret that East Lyme, Old Lyme and Lyme have some of the best schools in the state. Indeed, parent after parent will tell you that the reason they moved to the area or chose to stay here is because of the quality of the schools.

But if you're looking for proof, you need look no further than the latest issue of U.S. News and World Report. The magazine just ranked East Lyme High School as the 12th best in Connecticut and nationally it ranks as the 524th best school in the country. 

With a student population of 1,208 and 96 teachers, East Lyme's 13:1 student/teacher ratio is better than 54 percent of Connecticut schools. Based on the number of seniors taking and passing AP tests, 44.8 percent of students are considered "college ready" with 48 percent of students sitting for the tests and 44 percent passing.  

Students also scored much higher than average in proficiency in math and reading. Based on state exit exams, 96 percent of students are proficient in math and 97 percent are proficient in reading. That's well above the state average, netting the school as score of 4.1 and 4.0 respectively from U.S. News and World Report. 

Lyme-Old Lyme High School

In 2012, Lyme-Old Lyme High School earned U.S. New & World Report's Gold award as one of the best high schools in the state. That same year, Newsweek and The Daily Beast also named it one of America's Best High Schools. 

Rather oddly, in the latest U.S. News & World Report's Education issue, the school wasn't ranked but based on its scores, Lyme-Old Lyme High School is well above average.

It scored higher than 88 percent of Connecticut schools in class size, with a smaller than average student teacher ratio of 11:1.

It was also well above the Connecticut average in terms of college readiness (40.3 percent, based on the percentage of seniors who took and passed AP courses—51 percent of students took them, 37 percent passed.)

Lyme-Old Lyme High School Students scored 3.8 in math proficiency, with 93 percent of students considered "proficient" and only 7 percent non-proficient—again, well above the state average.

In reading, based on exit exams, the school excelled with a score of 4.1. Fully 97 percent of students were "proficient" and just 3 percent were not proficient. 

What do you think to our local schools? Should they have been ranked higher?