America's Best High Schools

(page 2 of 2)

Schools such as Bergen County Academies have the advantage of pulling the best students from a relatively wealthy area. But not all top schools fit that mould.

In Oklahoma, the school with the best overall performance also happens to be the best low-income school. Despite the demographic challenges, 100% of students at the Dove Science Academy, a publicly funded charter school for grades 6 to 12 in Oklahoma City, were accepted to college last year. Its test scores were the highest in the state.

About 90% of the 481 students at Dove Science Academy qualify for free or reduced school lunch, and 60% come from families where English is not the first language, said assistant principal/dean of students Marc Julian.

The school, founded by a group of educators in the 2001-02 season in an old office building on a busy Oklahoma City street, has strict policies for both students and teachers. Students wear uniforms, and the focus is decidedly on academics. Students have two or three hours of homework each day. And the school has neither an ROTC nor a football team (It began offering varsity soccer and basketball only in the past few years).

The kids are required to stay an extra hour and—if necessary—come in on Saturdays if they fail practice tests given monthly in preparation for the statewide exams. Admission is decided by lottery and, unlike a number of top schools on the list, does not require an admission test. The best students are rewarded with an annual trip to Europe and Turkey for which they pay just a few hundred dollars.

Teacher salaries are based on merit not pay scales (There is no union).

This year's valedictorian, Jason Lugo, 17, said his success had a lot to do with the dedication of the teachers who have come to his home—even on weekends—for free one-on-one tutoring at the kitchen table. Lugo, the son of Mexican immigrants, will be the first in his family to go to college. His father works at a dry cleaner, and his mother works on an air-conditioner assembly line.

In college, he plans to major in finance and international business with a minor in political science, and then launch a financial consulting business. He hopes to later move into politics.

"Maybe, the first Hispanic President of the U.S.," Lugo said. "Hey, Barack Obama did it, now anybody else can."

Click here to see the best high schools in America by state.

Gopal writes about real estate for BusinessWeek in New York.