Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Advanced Technologies Academy tops in Nevada, magazine says

Advanced Technologies Academy High School

Christopher DeVargas

The Advanced Technologies Academy High School.

Updated Wednesday, April 24, 2013 | 6:05 p.m.

Map of Advanced Technologies Academy

Advanced Technologies Academy

2501 Vegas Dr., Las Vegas

Advanced Technologies Academy has been named the best public high school in Nevada, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

The national magazine reviewed more than 21,000 public high schools from across the nation as part of its 2013 Best High Schools rankings. The annual rankings, which were released Tuesday, aim to identify the top-performing public high schools in the country.

Schools were ranked within each state and nationally based on its students' performances on state assessments and how well the school prepared its students – particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds – for college.

The top 4,805 schools were given gold, silver or bronze medals based on their performance on a college readiness index, as measured by Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test scores.

U.S. News – with the help of Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research – reviewed 139 high schools in Nevada. Of those schools, 11 received a medal.

The Clark County School District had three schools that received a medal.

Advanced Technologies Academy was ranked the top high school in Nevada and 304th nationally. The gold medal-winning school had a 62 percent participation rate and an 83 percent passing rate on the Advanced Placement exam.

The magnet school has 1,059 students, of which two-thirds are from minority backgrounds. About 30 percent of students participate in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.

Northwest Career and Technical Academy was ranked the third best high school in Nevada and 2,206th nationally. The silver medal-winning school had a 27 percent participation rate and a 44 percent passing rate on the Advanced Placement exam.

The magnet school has 1,881 students, of which about half are from minority backgrounds. About 30 percent of students participate in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.

Virtual High School was not ranked in Nevada or nationally, but received a bronze medal. The online school had a 6 percent participation rate and a 33 percent passing rate on the Advanced Placement exam.

Virtual High School has 149 students, of which 37 percent are from minority backgrounds. None of its students participate in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.

Absent from this year's rankings was Green Valley High School, which was erroneously ranked by U.S. News last year as the 13th best high school in the nation.

A Las Vegas Sun story that broke the news of inaccuracy in Green Valley High School’s summary, spawned an internal investigation by U.S. News, which found errors in the rankings of two other high schools in the nation. The Sun found that U.S. News used inaccurate data submitted to the federal government by the Nevada Department of Education.

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