Hilton Head Island, Beaufort high schools among nation's most demanding

Two Beaufort County high schools have again been included in a Newsweek magazine list of the top public high schools in the nation.

Hilton Head Island High School ranked 426 on the list of 1,480 schools, the fourth-best showing of any school in the Palmetto State. Beaufort High School ranked 1,372, the 22nd-best in the state, according to the Newsweek list.

The annual study compares the number of students who take Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests and how many students graduated from those schools as barometers for academic rigor. Newsweek reviewed more than 27,000 schools and ranked the top 1,480, or 6 percent.

This year's list marked the third consecutive year Hilton Head High has been ranked. It fell slightly after being ranked 416th a year ago. Beaufort High has been on the list five times since 2003 and moved up one spot, from 1,373.

"It's very encouraging," Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Valerie Truesdale said. "It shows that we are stretching our top learners to achieve more."

Truesdale said Beaufort County schools encourage their strongest students to take more challengingclasses so that they can meet their potential and better prepare for college.

Hilton Head Island High School Principal Amanda O'Nan said several of her students have flourished after being pushed to take more challenging classes, and she believes the ranking proves that.

"We want our kids taking the tough classes and not just the middle-of-the-road classes," she said. "That's been the key to our success."

Beaufort High Principal Dan Durbin said more of his students also are taking tougher classes as preparation for college. He said a consistent Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate program have kept the school on the Newsweek list.

South Carolina has 22 high schools on the Newsweek list, down one school from last year. Academic Magnet in North Charleston was the state's top-ranked school and was listed No. 12 overall.

Georgia had 51 schools on the list, and North Carolina, 53.

Eighteen schools, dubbed "The Public Elites," were not allowed to compete in the ranking because their students' SAT and ACT test scores were too high and students are asked to take highly selective entrance exams. The S.C. Governor's School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville was named an elite school and wasn't ranked.

The Newsweek study was meant to rank public schools with a normal student population.

The Talented and Gifted school in Dallas, Texas, ranked No. 1 among the 1,480, and the Science and Engineering school, also in Dallas, was No. 2.