Lakeside High Ranked No. 9 in State, No. 517 in Nation

is the ninth best high school in the state and ranks at No. 517 in the nation, U.S. News & World Report said today.

If you want to get a look at the stats justifying the popular magazine's rankings, check out the list – and many other lists statewide and nationwide – at the magazine's website here.

In Georgia, Savannah Arts Academy ranked highest. Several Atlanta metro area schools also bested Lakeside High: Walton in Marietta (No. 3), Riverwood International Charter in Atlanta (No. 5), Lassiter in Marietta (No. 7) and Chamblee Charter (No. 8).

As for nationwide, the best schools were old faithfuls School for the Talented & Gifted in Dallas (No. 1), Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, VA (No. 2) and the School of Science and Engineering in Dallas.

Seriously, those Dallas schools seem to take this this each year I've written about it (and that's about 10 years).

What separates Lakeside from the No. 1 school in the nation? The School for the Talented & Gifted has a College Readiness Index of 100 percent. A math proficiency of 3.9, a reading proficiency of 3.8 and a student/teacher ratio of 14:1. (A detailed explanation of those marks is included at the magazine's site.)

Lakeside's College Readiness Index – 44.8 percent. A math and reading proficiency of 3.6 and student/teacher ratio of 17:1.

So, debate them, decry them, uphold them, criticize these ratings. But what do you think about Lakeside's placement and the magazine's analysis of our community's school? Tell us in the comments section below.