Diamond Bar High School ranks in Newsweek
September 15, 2015
Diamond Bar High School was recently named the eighth best public school in California, ranking at No. 77 for the entire United States.
Every year, Newsweek, a magazine and online website, evaluates high schools from across the country based on students’ college readiness, ranking the top 500 schools in the U.S.
“Our excellent rankings truly represent a partnership of all stakeholders in the Diamond Bar community including parents, staff, students, the district office, and the city of Diamond Bar,” former Principal Catherine Real said in a school-wide e-mail.
A high school’s level of college readiness is determined by calculating the students’ graduation rate, college enrollment rate, SAT and ACT scores, counselor to student ratios, student retention between the 9th and 12th grades, and the school’s AP, IB, and Dual Enrollment numbers.
“Our college readiness index reflects our philosophy of providing access to rigorous academic courses to more and more students whether that’s in the form of AP and IB courses or access to career tech ed courses for which students receive college credit while still in high school.” Real wrote.
Many schools in the top rankings are small magnet schools, schools that offer special instruction and programs not available elsewhere, that screen students based on their academic abilities before granting them admission.
With over 3,000 students enrolled, DBHS’ student body alone eclipses the numbers of students at most other top schools. The school has also received a gold star, a symbol indicating that students who are economically disadvantaged were able to earn scores at or above the state average on the standardized state English language arts and math tests.
“We should be proud of our collective accomplishments and even prouder that our students leave our school prepared to be successful in their post-secondary goals.” Real said.