Bay High ranked Gold by U.S. News and World Report

Bay High principal Jason Martin with seniors Jake Peters and Campbell Slatton.

Bay High School is listed as one of U.S.News and World Report's 2013 Best High Schools in America, earning the magazine's GOLD designation in this annual ranking of the nation's high schools by the magazine.

U.S.News and World Report ranked high schools as Gold (top 500), Silver (next 1,790) and Bronze (an additional 2,515) out of a total 21,035 American high schools analyzed. Bay High's ranking puts it in the top 2.7 percent nationally. The school was ranked 19th in Ohio and 496th in the nation. Bay High had been named to the Silver list since 2007.

U.S. News and World Report considers several factors in its ranking. These factors include whether all students performed better than statistical expectations on math and reading proficiency tests based on the average for students in the state. Then, the number of economically disadvantaged students were factored in to determine schools that were performing better than expected statistically.

Finally, in a third-step calculation, an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) "college readiness" index was computed based on the weighted average of the AP or IB participation rate (12th-grade students taking at least one AP/IB test before or during their senior year divided by number of 12th-graders) along with how many of those students passed with an AP score of 3 or higher (the score which many colleges accept for course credit) or an IB score of 4. The quality score (passing rate) was weighted at 75 percent, while the participation rate was rated at 25 percent for the college readiness index. Bay High offers an extensive selection of AP college-level courses.