Newsweek’s Top Public High Schools of 2016: Which Illinois Schools Made the List?

Newsweek’s 2016 list of the best public high schools in the country includes 24 Illinois schools, with a few familiar names at the top. The list was released Thursday morning.

Northside College Preparatory High School placed in the Top 10 nationally, ranking 8th, moving up two spots from 2015. New Trier Township High School in Winnetka ranked 17th, down three spots from last year.

These 24 Illinois public high schools made the top 500 in the 2016 Newsweek list of best schools:

8. Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago

17. New Trier Township High School, Winnetka

34. Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale

37. Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest

73. Maine South High School, Park Ridge

77. Whitney Young High School, Chicago

103. Glenbrook South High School, Glenview

138. Crystal Lake Central High School, Crystal Lake

154. Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville

156. Barrington High School, Barrington

176. William Fremd High School, Palatine

186. York Community High School, Elmhurst

204. Wheaton North High School, Wheaton

242. Cary-Grove High School, Cary

249. Deerfield High School, Deerfield

260. Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora

279. James B. Conant High School, Hoffman Estates

349. Lincoln-Way West High School, New Lenox

424. Grayslake North High School, Grayslake

434. Lincoln-Way Central High School, New Lenox

449. Grayslake Central High School, Grayslake

452. Galena High School, Galena

454. Hinsdale South High School, Darien

467. Morton High School, Morton

Newsweek’s rankings of the best public high schools in the country stand apart from other attempts to rank school performance. Newsweek uses legitimate and objective measurements to put together its annual ranking of the country’s best high schools.

Related: Newsweek Releases List Of 2016 Best Public High Schools In America

Newsweek looked at six measurements and weighted them to achieve a “college readiness index.” The rankings show how well high schools prepare students for college.

Those measurements and their weight are:

• Holding power: 10 percent
• Ratio of counselor/full-time equivalent to student enrollment: 10 percent
• Weighted SAT/ACT: 17.5 percent
• Weighted AP/IB/dual enrollment composite: 17.5 percent
• Graduation rate: 20 percent
• College enrollment rate: 25 percent

In all, 6,477 of the nation’s 15,819 public high schools met the criteria to be considered in Newsweek’s rankings.

Newsweek used school performance data from the National Center for Education Statistics to narrow the list of schools.

Of those 6,477 schools, 4,760 were considered for the overall rankings, while 4,452 made the cut for another list of schools “beating the odds.” (Many schools made both lists.)

For the “beating the odds” rankings, a school’s college readiness scores were adjusted for how they compared against other schools with similar percentages of students eligible for free or reduced lunch.

In Illinois, 25 schools made the "beating the odds" list:

3. Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago

26. Whitney Young High School, Chicago

63. Glenbrook South High School, Glenview

68. New Trier Township High School, Winnetka

94. Carbondale Community High School, Carbondale

102. Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale

129. Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest

139. Wheaton North High School, Wheaton

142, Barrington High School, Barrington

171. Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora

188. York Community High School, Elmhurst

249. DeVry University Advantage Academy High School, Chicago

252. Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville

253. Maine South High School, Park Ridge

258. Carlinville High School, Carlinville

259. Infinity High School, Chicago

262. Hinsdale South High School, Darien

291. William Fremd High School, Palatine

313. Proviso Math and Science Academy, Forest Park

337. Downers Grove South High School, Downers Grove

356. Maine East High School, Park Ridge

366. Richland County High School, Olney

403. Galena High School, Galena

418. Deerfield High School, Deerfield

429. Downers Grove North High School, Downers Grove