Through all the purple and gold hype, Diamond Bar High School students can finally proclaim that their school ranks as the No. 1 public high school in California.

At least according to a study by Start Class, an education-oriented research website, working along with Graphiq, a technology company that delivers data to researchers and research groups. The study used data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection and ranked the top high school for each state. (Only one school per state was mentioned in the listings.) Start Class has ranked multiple education centers such as middle schools, colleges, different graduate programs, boarding, and online schools.

According to Star Class’s website, the high schools were compared using factors such as exam passing rates and proficiency rates. Overall school environment was also considered in the ranking, including student-to-teacher ratios, absence rates and disciplinary action based on suspension rates. Another category consisted of college preparatory measures, which was built on the percent of AP students, the percent of students taking the SAT or ACT and graduation rates. According to the study, DBHS received a score of 9.64 of 10.

“Sometimes if rankings are only based on AP participation rates or are only based on [another] particular rate, it’s not as comprehensive of a ranking. So, it’s really positive to see that [the research group] looked at multiple things to determine what our ranking would be,” Principal Reuben Jones said.

This is not the first time DBHS has been mentioned in national rankings, as US News, Niche and GreatSchools! have all done so in the past.

Moreover, Principal Jones said that while DBHS has many challenging standards as reflected by the ranking, students should not feel overwhelmed.

“I think the wellness center and the social, emotional learning components that we are having on campus is very important. I want to make sure that our kids are having that support because there is so much pressure on students that they have to excel, and work, work. Study, study. There can be a healthy process to manage all those stressing experiences,” he said.