By Ben Cooper ’16

Numerous Montgomery County High Schools were ranked on the annual “US News Best High Schools” list. However, Sherwood did not make the list despite performing better than some of the MCPS schools that were ranked.

The categories that US News used were “College Readiness,” proficiency in Algebra and proficiency in English. A schools’ level of college readiness was determined by how many 12^th graders took an AP Test, and how many passed an AP Test.

Sherwood received a 61.8 out of 100 on the college readiness scale, with 72-percent of 12^th graders taking an AP test, and 58-percent of them passing it. Sherwood also showed 95 percent proficiency in Algebra and 92-percent proficiency in English.

In comparison, Magruder, ranked 466^th nationally, received a 53.4 out of 100 on the college readiness scale, with 58-percent of 12^th graders taking an AP test, and 51-percent of those students passing it. The school was also recorded as having 90-percent proficiency in Algebra, and 88 percent proficiency in English. Magruder claimed a gold medal, which is given to the top 500 schools in the country.

Sherwood’s data is favorable to Magruder’s, yet they are unranked on the list. With the data provided, it’s hard to understand why Sherwood didn’t top Magruder, let alone make the rankings which lists 6,517 of the best high schools in the US. Out of 14 MCPS high schools that were ranked, Sherwood performed better academically than seven of them, according to US News’ statistics.

The rankings factor in the percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged. Schools are graded based on how well they perform compared to how the statistics indicate they should perform, meaning that having more disadvantaged kids will lower the statistical expectations for a school. Thirty-three percent of students at Magruder are disadvantaged while only 15-percent are disadvantaged at Sherwood. However, US News reports that Sherwood has 79.7-percent proficiency among its underprivileged students compared to Magruder’s 80.6-percent, meaning that there is hardly a gap between the two schools.