Riverwood, North Springs Make Washington Post's List of Top High Schools

Riverwood International Charter School had the highest ranking of nine Fulton County high schools on the Washington Post’s 2013 list of “America’s Most Challenging Schools.”

A Fulton County statement explained the list is a selection of 1,900 high schools from more than 22,000 across the country, and represent the top 9 percent of high schools based on total student participation in highly rigorous coursework and exams.

Riverwood ranked no. 204 on the list. North Springs Charter High School ranked no. 441. 

National rankings for other Fulton County high schools are: Alpharetta High School, 240; Milton High School, 263; Johns Creek High School, 317; Northview High School, 342; Chattahoochee High School, 352; Roswell High School, 365; and Centennial High School, 662.

“It’s exceptional that so many of our schools are being recognized for their academic rigor, but there’s still more that we can do to challenge students,” said Superintendent Robert Avossa, in the statement. “It should be our goal that every high school in Fulton County be recognized on the High School Challenge list.”

The index formula used for the rankings, measures public and private high schools’ ability to challenge their students. A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of college-level tests given by a school to all its students by the number of graduates for that year. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students.