District 211 schools earn top rankings

Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211’s five schools are ranked at the top of their class, according to multiple surveys.

The Washington Post ranked all five District 211 schools as some of the most challenging in the country.

Of the more than 1,900 schools on the America’s Most Challenging High School list, 52 are in Illinois. Fremd High School ranked 17th, Conant High School ranked 34th, Hoffman Estates High School ranked 37th, Palatine High School ranked 42nd and Schaumburg High School ranked 43rd.

The formula used to rank the schools compiles the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given each year and divides it by the number of seniors who graduated.

On Tuesday, U.S. News & World Report published its 2013 Best High Schools rankings, and all but one of the District 211 schools made the list.

For Illinois, Fremd ranked 22nd, Conant ranked 26th, Hoffman Estates ranked 28th and Schaumburg ranked 45th. Nationally, Fremd ranked 540, Conant ranked 615, Hoffman Estates ranked 640 and Schaumburg ranked 1,101. Palatine High School was listed as “unranked.”

The rankings consider whether the schools serve all of their students well, not just those who are college-bound.

In addition to those two rankings, the entire school district received the SchoolSearch 2013 “Bright Red Apple Award,” which recognizes academic excellence and overall positive educational institutions.