Diamond Ranch High Improves State and National Rankings

Diamond Ranch High School improved its state and national rankings in an annual report released Tuesday that charts the academic success of campuses across the country.

The Pomona Unified School District campus, which also serves Diamond Bar, ranked 242nd in the state, up 17 spots from 258th last year, according to the U.S. News & World Report. The school's national ranking also improved to 1,108th from 1,257th last year

The ranking earned the school a silver award, the same honor it received in 2012.

The rate of college readiness is 30.8 percent, and bump up from 27 percent last year, and the Advanced Placement participation rate held steady at 42 percent, according to the data.

Crosstown rival Diamond Bar High placed 39th in the state and 219th nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report.  The school has increased its ranking dramatically, moving up 22 spots from placing 61st last year.

"The 2013 Best High Schools rankings, released (Tuesday), can help parents wade through the ever expanding options of public high schools," the report says of the rankings.

According to the publication, U.S. News collected data from more than 21,000 public high schools throughout the country to arrive at their rankings.  In the national rankings, 500 gold medals were awarded, along with 1,790 silver and 2,515 bronze.

California's top school overall is Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz, the report found.

The top school in the country is The School for the Talented and Gifted in the Dallas Independent School District, according to the report.

U.S. News created the report along with D.C.-based American Institutes for Research "...to evaluate schools on overall student performance on state-mandated assessments, as well as how effectively schools educated their black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. Performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams was then used to determine the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work."