Melrose Makes List of America's Best High Schools

is one of 21 Massachusetts high schools to make Newsweek's annual rankings of the top 1,000 high schools in the nation that are most effective in turning out college-ready graduates.

The magazine's 2012 rankings, released online on Sunday, rank Melrose as the 832nd best high school in the nation.

More than 2,300 schools were assessed in compiling the list, according to Newsweek's methodology, which ranked the schools based on self-reported statistics from the 2010-2011 school year, including:

• Four-year, on-time graduation rate (weighed 25 percent)

• Percent of 2011 graduates accepted to college (25 percent) 

• AP/IB/AICE tests per student (25 percent)

• Average SAT and/or ACT score (10 percent)

• Average AP/IB/AICE exam score (10 percent)
  

• AP/IB/AICE courses offered per student (5 percent)

In a press release, Melrose High School Principal Dan Richards said, the ranking is "a reflection of the commitment and dedication of the leadership, faculty and staff over the past year. As a team, we have come together with a common vision focusing on 'what we teach” and 'how we teach.' This vision continues to be our core emphasis for the 2012-2013 school year along with other student focused initiatives."

Last year Newsweek ranked only the top 500 schools and Melrose did not make the list. In 2010, the magazine public high school in the nation.

The top three Massachusetts schools making the list this year were Sturgis Charter Public School in Hyannis (46th overall), in Malden (122nd overall) and Belmont High School (134th overall).