Arianna Talaie — Feature Editor
Among the other twenty-three Fairfax County Public Schools that made the cut for the 2010 Newsweek-Washington Post list of 1,622 top U.S. high schools, Langley fell short in earning the number one spot to our rival Mclean Highlanders. The 1,622 schools compose the top six percent of high schools all over the nation—and Langley was ranked 117 on the prestigious list.
Based on a formula created by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews, the schools were judged and ranked according to each public high schools’ effort to challenge their students. According to www.newsweek.com, “A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Cambridge tests given by a school to all its students by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students.”
Although the majority of the neighboring Fairfax Public School Schools ranked lower than Langley High School, Woodson High school held tight to its 91st spot on the list, making the top 100, while McLean High School claimed spot 101. Other Fairfax schools that were mentioned include Centreville High School, 140, Madison High School, 143, Herndon High School, 152, Oakton High School, 157, Lake Braddock Secondary School, 172, Fairfax High School, 179, Marshall High School, 200, South Lakes High School, 216, Chantilly High School, 219, West Springfield High School, 274, South County Secondary School, 303, Robinson Secondary School, 325, Westfield High School, 346, Stuart High School, 432, Falls Church High School, 466, West Potomac High School, 523, Hayfield Secondary School, 539, Lee High School, 1,141, Annandale High School, 1,200, and Mount Vernon High School, 1,424.