Pine-Richland Gets High Marks in Washington Post Rankings

For the second time this week,  was named one of the nation's top schools.

Pine-Richland was ranked sixth in Pennsylvania and 772nd in the U.S. in The Washington Post's High School Challenge.

For the Pittsburgh area, Pine-Richland ranked highest.

The school also was named this week to

The Washington Post's Challenge Index is based on the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2011 divided by the number of graduating seniors, according to the Post. 

The Challenge Index also measures how effectively a school prepares its students for college, according to The Washington Post's website.

Of the 1,900 public high schools ranked nationally, Pine-Richland came in at 772 with an index of 2.212.

The Post notes that while the index is "not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school’s commitment to preparing average students for college."

An information page showed that Pine-Richland offers 15 AP courses and 11 varsity programs. Also, the four-year graduation rate is 98 percent, the average SAT score is 1,650 and the average ACT score is 25.

Local schools in the listing and their rankings include:

Pine-Richland, sixth in Pennsylvania and 772 in U.S.;

Upper St. Clair, eighth in Pennsylvania and 969 in U.S.;

Quaker Valley, 13th in Pennsylvania and 1,200 in U.S.;

North Allegheny, 14th in Pennsylvania and 1,211 in U.S.;

Hampton, 16th in Pennsylvania and 1,352 in U.S.;

South Fayette, 21st in Pennsylvania and 1,509 in U.S.;

North Hills, 22nd in Pennsylvania and 1,595 in U.S.;

Mt. Lebanon, 24nd in Pennsylvania and 1,652 in U.S.;

Chartiers Valley, 30th in Pennsylvania and 1,868 in U.S.;

The High School Challenge does not include certain high-achieving magnet or charter high schools, the website states.