Local Schools Land on List of America’s Best

Newsweek has released its annual list of the best high schools in the nation, and schools from the Washington, D.C. area are well-represented.

The magazine says it ranks schools based on "how hard school staffs work to challenge students with advanced placement college-level courses and tests."

Here's a look at the local schools that landed in the top 100:

27. H-B Woodlawn, Arlington, VA
33. Richard Montgomery, Rockville, MD
37. Bell Multicultural, Washington, DC
44. George Mason, Falls Church, VA
59. Poolesville, Poolesville, MD
62. Washington-Lee, Arlington, VA
63. Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Bethesda, MD
75. Winston Churchill, Potomac, MD
82. Yorktown, Arlington, VA
83. Wootton, Rockville, MD
85. Walt Whitman, Bethesda, MD
91. W.T. Woodson, Fairfax, VA
95. Walter Johnson, Bethesda, MD
100. Woodrow Wilson, Washington, DC

Notice a trend on that list? That's the seven schools from Montgomery County. MCPS broke its 2008 record of six schools among the top 100, and was an increase from the four that made the list last year.

“The Newsweek report is another confirmation that the reform efforts we have put in place the past 11 years are having a very positive impact,” said Patricia O’Neill, President of the Montgomery County Board of Education. “We have made a commitment to giving all students access to college-level work, so they are better prepared for the rigors of post-secondary classes."

The No. 1 school is -- for the second year in a row -- the Talented and Gifted school in Dallas.