Several Beaufort County public, private schools ranked among survey's top SC schools
A national website has ranked two Beaufort County public high schools and three private schools among South Carolina's top academic institutions.
The website Niche, which runs the better-known ranking site College Prowler, included 14,431 public high schools and 3,880 private high schools across the nation in rankings released earlier in the month.
Hilton Head Island and Bluffton high schools broke the top 20 for public high schools, while Beaufort Academy, Heritage Academy and Hilton Head Preparatory School were in the top 15 for private high schools.
To create the list, Niche graded schools in several categories. Academics were given the most weight, and student culture and diversity were among other factors considered. More than four million opinions from surveys given to parents and students who sign up to use the site also were in the mix.
The schools' academics score was determined by student performance on standardized tests, graduation rates and student-to-teacher ratios.
The rankings for the Beaufort County School District's five public high schools are:
14. Hilton Head Island High School
18. Bluffton High School
82. Beaufort High School
97. Battery Creek High School
153. Whale Branch Early College High School
Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School ranked 194 of 197 in the state for public high schools.
The rankings for Beaufort and Jasper counties' private schools are:
10. Beaufort Academy
12. Heritage Academy
15. Hilton Head Preparatory School
16. Abundant Life Academy
31. Hilton Head Christian Academy
59. Thomas Heyward Academy
School district spokesman Jim Foster said he was happy to hear that several district schools were ranked highly, but added that he was not familiar with the Niche rankings.
Follow reporter Sarah Bowman on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Sarah.
This story was originally published November 18, 2014 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Several Beaufort County public, private schools ranked among survey's top SC schools."