Bethlehem Central High School has been ranked in the Top 25 high schools (at #19) in upstate New York, according to U.S. News & World Report which released its 2017 Best High Schools Rankings this week. Nationally, the school is ranked at #802 of the 28,000 high schools the publication reviewed in its selection process.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the rankings are determined by a four-step process. Schools included in the list must perform better than expected in the state, disadvantaged students must perform better than the state average, and student graduation rates must meet or exceed the national average. The final step: determining how well-prepared students are for college-level coursework by looking at the school’s participation and performance in Advanced Placement (AP) classes and exams.

In 2016, at BCHS, 454 students took 897 AP exams in two dozen subjects. On 88 percent of those exams, students scored 3 or above, making them eligible for college credit at many colleges and universities. The school district estimates, using the University at Albany as a benchmark, those students earned the equivalent of 4,009 college credits in 2016.