Newsweek names SM East best public high school in Kansas

SM East is the top public high school in Kansas and one of the top 500 in the nation, according to the latest set of rankings from Newsweek magazine.

The Newsweek list, which has been released every year for more than a decade, used a revamped methodology this year. Each school’s score was based on six factors, weighted as follows: graduation rate (25%), college matriculation rate (25%), AP tests taken per graduate (25%), average SAT/ACT scores (10%), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10%), and AP courses offered (5%).

SM East came in at 326 out of 500 schools listed with a Newsweek score of .327. SM South and SM Northwest also made the list, ranked at 426 and 492, respectively. Two Blue Valley schools made the cut as well. Blue Valley North was ranked 340, and Blue Valley High School was ranked 465.

The top public school in the country was the School of Science and Engineering Magnet in Dallas, which earned a Newsweek score of 2.874. It was also the top school in the Washington Post’s high school rankings released about a month ago.