The competitive nature of many Diamond Bar High School students is no secret: it’s often seen in the school’s high numbers of National Merit semifinalists and participation in AP classes. In the latest high school rankings published by the U.S. News and World Report, DBHS’s academic finesse was once again reflected in its placement as the 519th best high school in the U.S.

The U.S. News and World Report considers 17,792 American public high schools in its rankings, meaning that DBHS ranked in the top three percent. Private schools are excluded as they’re not required to share all their data. Additionally, DBHS ranked  68th out of all California high schools, 25th for Los Angeles area high schools and 77th in STEM high schools. The STEM rankings in particular were determined by taking the Top 1,000 public high schools and examining their students’ participation and scores in AP math and science tests.

Meanwhile, national high school rankings are determined by a wide array of factors, including the variety and pass rate of AP/IB tests taken, reading and math scores in standardized testing, academic performance of underserved minority groups and graduation rates. The U.S. News and World Report gathered its information from the Common Core of Data available on the U.S. Department of Education’s website, state education agencies, the College Board and the International Baccalaureate.

Other local high schools also placed this year, with Walnut High School placed at 601st and Troy High School at 213th in the nation. WHS placed 128th and Troy placed 93rd in STEM high schools.