Conard and Hall Rank High in Washington Post's "Most Challenging High Schools'

The Washington Post released its list of the nation's "Most Challenging High Schools" this week, and both Conard and Hall earned rankings in the top 400 – two of only three schools in Connecticut to reach that threshold.

In a comparison of schools in the state, with 19 AP courses and a graduation rate of 95 percent, Conard earns the number two ranking in Connecticut for the second year in a row. Hall has moved from seventh place in the state to third place in 2013. 

The ranking is based on an index developed by Jay Mathews, a Washington Post education columnist, and is determined by the ratio of: "the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school in 2012, divided by the number of graduates that year."

Only the Connecticut IB Academy in East Hartford, which is a magnet school, is ranked higher than the West Hartford schools.

The Washington Post ranks Conard and Hall 47th and 48th respectively in the Northeast region (out of 241 schools listed).

Conard is 388th nationally, and Hall is 389th. Farmington High School is third in the state and at 497th nationally is the only other Connecticut High School in the top 500. A total of 2,037 schools received rankings.

The complete rankings, along with detailed information about the schools' average SAT scores, percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch, number of varsity sports, graduation rates, and other details, can be found online at www.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge.