Harmony Magnet Academy principal Jeff Brown took it in stride when it came to the school being named among the top four percent of high schools in the country.
“That's not bad,” Brown said. Brown actually knows what an honor it is for the school to be named among U.S. News and World Reports 2021 Best High Schools. “It's an honor to be mentioned nationally,” Brown said.
Out of 17,860 public high schools the publication ranked, U.S. News and World Report ranked Harmony No. 725, which places it in the top four percent in the country. The publication also ranked in Harmony in the top 100 public high schools in California at No. 99 and also ranked Harmony as the top school in Tulare County. Harmony was also ranked No. 141 in the nation among charter high schools.
Harmony has been ranked among the nation's top schools by U.S. News since 2018 and continues to move up the rankings. In 2018, Harmony was ranked 157th in the state and 934th in the nation. In 2019, Harmony was ranked 131st in the state and 876th in the nation.
“We're very pleased,” Brown said. “We have a tremendous faculty who take it very seriously what they're trying to do for the students and the students understand why they're here. “Very pleased with the staff's and the students' commitment.”
Harmony received a score of 95.94 out of 100 in U.S. News and World Report's rankings.
The Best High Schools rankings are produced in conjunction with RTI International, a global research firm. U.S. News doesn’t collect data directly from high schools — all data comes directly from official third-party sources.
U.S. News received AP and IB data directly from the College Board and International Baccalaureate, respectively. The state assessment data and graduation rates are from each state, and other data comes from the U.S. Department of Education Common Core of Data.
Six indicators of school quality was used to determine a school's score such as reading and math proficiency. In its overview of Harmony, U.S. News stated students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams as the AP participation rate at the school is 69 percent.
U.S. News also noted the school's total minority enrollment is 78 percent and that 64 percent of students are economically disadvantaged. In addition, U.S. News noted Harmony has a graduation rate of 98 percent.
For more information visit https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools