Group Names Houston-Area's Top Public High Schools

HOUSTON, TX — There are a lot of high schools in the Houston area, and all parents want to be as certain as possible that their children attend one with high academic standards. Teacher surveys, test scores, and word-of-mouth reviews are some ways that parents keep up with school rankings, and there are plenty of organizations and groups that compile data and information, helping to make a parent's job easier.

The latest group to do so released its 2017 test results today, and its must-reading for students and mothers and fathers alike.

Children at Risk analyzed data from 187 public high schools, including graduation rates, test scores, exam participation rates, and scores on advanced tests and examinations.

Let's drill down and take a look at some of the Houston-based nonprofit advocacy group's findings:

+ The top-ranked school in the Houston area is Debakey High School; it is also Texas' second-ranked school, according to Children at Risk. Debakey is part of the Houston Independent High School, and scored an A+.

+ The next four schools in the Houston area are: Challenge Early College High School; Kinder High School for the Performing & Visual Arts; Eastwood Academy; and Carnegie Vanguard High School. They are all HISD institutions, and also earned an A+ grade.

+ The HISD placed 14 schools on Children at Risk's top-rated subsection, the most of any district in the Houston area, followed by Fort Bend Independent School District — seven schools — and Clear Creek Independent School District (six schools).

+ On the other end of the spectrum, 35 schools, or nearly a fifth of public high schools in the Houston area, received an F grade.

Click here for the complete Children at Risk 2017 report card.

— Image: Children at Risk