Miami Dominates Rankings of Florida's Best High Schools

U.S. News & World Report has released its annual rankings of America's best high schools, and Miami-Dade schools pull a lot of weight when it comes to representing Florida on the list. Five Miami schools are ranked in the top 100 in the nation, which also means five of the ten top schools in Florida are in Miami. Of the top 20 schools in Florida, eight are in Miami-Dade.

International Studies Charter High School on Calle Ocho is ranked the best high school in the Sunshine State and the 13th best high school in America (and fourth best charter school overall). The school is also one of the highest-ranking Florida schools on Newsweek's best high schools list from last year. The school opened in 2004 as a joint effort of the Spanish, Italian, and French embassies, with help from Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Classes are offered in the mother tongue of the three embassies, and students come from all over the globe. 

Design & Architecture Senior High, commonly known as DASH, is ranked the second best high school in Florida and 21st best high school nationwide. Located in the Design District, the school also opened in 1990 and, as the name suggests, is a magnet catering to students interested in architecture and other forms of design. 

Archimedean Upper Conservatory Charter School ranks fifth in the state and 52nd in the nation. The charter school takes a Greek philosophy toward learning, with an emphasis on math, the Greek language, and philosophy. MAST Academy, a public magnet concentrating on marine studies on Virginia Key, ranks sixth in the state and 58th in the nation. Young Women's Preparatory Academy, another public magnet school, which accepts only female students, ranks seventh in the state and 59th in the nation. 

Also cracking Florida's top 20 are Doral Performing Arts & Entertainment Academy, 13th in the state; Coral Reef Senior High School, 14th; and New World School of the Arts, 20th. 

Doral Academy Charter High School, Mater Academy Charter High, Somerset High School, Mater Academy East Charter High School, Law Enforcement Officers Memorial High School, Terra Environmental Research Institute, and Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Senior High School all found spots between 21 and 40. The rankings overall show that Miami boasts a lot of quality schools compared to the rest of the state. 

To determine the rankings, U.S. News considered teacher-to-student ratio, college readiness as a measure of number of students who took and passed an advanced placement test, and proficiency of each school's students in math and reading.