Oak Mountain High School has made the list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools by The Washington Post. Oak Mountain High School ranks 4th on the list for the state of Alabama and 560th in the nation. 

“I am so proud of our students and staff for achieving this great distinction,” said Principal Joan Doyle. “Everyone is always going the extra mile to make sure that our students have the very best academic opportunities.”

According to The Washington Post website, America’s Most Challenging High Schools ranks schools through an index formula that’s a simple ratio: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year.

According to Jay Matthews, The Washinton Post reporter who designed the list, it is used “to identify the schools working hardest to challenge average students with Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education courses and tests, good preparation for both college and the workplace. This is in contrast to the usual ranking of schools by test score averages, which is more of an indication of how affluent the parents are than of how good the school is.”

There were only seven schools from Alabama that made the national list.  The state rankings were:

1. Jefferson County International Baccalaureate
2. LAMP (Loveless Academic Magnet Program)
3. Mountain Brook High School
4. Oak Mountain High School
5. Homewood High School
6. Alabama School of Math and Science
7. Buckhorn High School