A few weeks prior to Pasco County students being applauded at graduation ceremonies for their years of accomplishments in the classroom, the local education system received accolades of its own.
Five Pasco schools – Land O’ Lakes, J.W. Mitchell, Sunlake, Wiregrass Ranch and Pasco eSchool – made the U.S. News and World Report’s national list of 2018 Best High Schools.
In a notification to Pasco County Schools, U.S. News and World Report Vice President of Specialty Marketing Mark W. White wrote: “They are among the elite schools that scored high enough to earn a Gold, Silver or Bronze Best High Schools ‘badge.’ ”
The publication notes that less than 30 percent of high schools in the country qualify for the list of Best High Schools.
“I can’t tell you how proud this news makes me,” Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said in a news release. “This is a testament to our administrators’ deliberate planning, our teachers’ high-impact instruction, and our students’ hard work and focus.”
Four of the five Pasco schools earned Silver badges, an honor only 11 percent of U.S. high schools can claim. Land O’ Lakes was ranked 50th in Florida, based on its 87 percent graduation rate and 53.5 ranking for college readiness.
Mitchell, in Trinity, ranked 90th in Florida, with an 85 percent graduation rate and 44.5 college readiness ranking.
Wiregrass Ranch, in Wesley Chapel, ranked 117th in Florida, with a 91 percent graduation rate and 37.4 college readiness, and Sunlake, in Land O’ lakes, ranked 119th in Florida, with an 86 percent graduation rate and 37.3 college readiness.
The online Pasco eSchool earned a Bronze badge. The online coursework service touted a 100 percent graduation rate but no college readiness ranking. Only 16 percent of U.S. schools qualify for Bronze badges.