These 8 First Coast high schools just made U.S. News rankings of Florida's top 50 schools

Eight Northeast Florida schools placed among the state’s top 50 public high schools in rankings from U.S. News & World Report released last week.

The top scorers included five Duval County magnet schools, two traditional schools in St. Johns County and a Duval charter school. Some schools have routinely led achievement ratings since the list was first published in 2007 while others hadn’t even opened their doors then.

U.S. News compared local schools against 618 counterparts around the state and 17,680 nationally to develop its rankings. They weighed together five different yardsticks, from a four-year graduation rate to a “college readiness” score that measures the proportion of seniors scoring well enough on either an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam.

From 2017: U.S. News & World Report: 7 Northeast Florida high schools among 50 best in state

And before then: Several First Coast public high schools among best in state, U.S.

Among the 50 top-ranked schools statewide, Northeast Florida’s highest rankings were:

1. Stanton College Preparatory School (Duval magnet)

Ranking: Eighth in Florida, 76^th nationally; graduation rate: 100%; college readiness: 100

2. Paxon School for Advanced Studies (Duval magnet)

Ranking: 22^nd in Florida, 196^th nationally; graduation rate: 97%; college readiness: 85.4

3. Darnell Cookman School of the Medical Arts (Duval magnet)

Ranking: 23^rd in Florida, 232^nd nationally; graduation rate: 100%; college readiness: 89.8

4. Ponte Vedra High School (St. Johns traditional)

Ranking: 26^th in Florida, 291^st nationally; graduation rate: 98%; college readiness: 74.7

5. Douglas Anderson School of the Arts (Duval magnet)

Ranking: 28^th in  Florida, 330^th nationally; graduation rate: 99%; college readiness: 73.9

6. Creekside High School (St. Johns traditional)

Ranking: 41^st in Florida, 633^rd nationally; graduation rate: 98%; college readiness: 57.4

7. Wolfson High School (Duval magnet)

Ranking: 43^rd in Florida, 688^th nationally; graduation rate: 94%; college readiness: 68.8

8. River City Science Academy (Duval charter)

Ranking: 47^th in Florida, 751^st nationally; graduation rate: 98%; college readiness: 68.4

Clay County’s top-rated school was Fleming Island High School, which U.S. News ranked 98^th statewide and 1,491^st nationwide. The top figures in Nassau County came from Fernandina Beach High School, ranked 113^th in the state and 1,758^th nationally. The magazine ranked Baker County Senior High School 458^th in the state and 10,451^st nationally.

Duval County's highest-ranked traditional school was Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, which U.S. News calculated at 185th in the state and 3,221st nationally.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Which 8 First Coast high schools did U.S. News rank with Florida's best?