Six area schools on list of nation’s 1,500 best

For the second straight year, six area schools placed among the nation's top 1,500 high schools in an annual survey conducted by Newsweek magazine.

James River High School in Chesterfield County was the area's top-rated school, coming in at 246. Last year, it topped the area list at 210.

The schools were ranked based on a formula that combines the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests and divides that by the number of graduating seniors.

Hanover ranked 769, Midlothian 815, Clover Hill 909, Atlee 1,047 and Monacan 1,151.

Hanover and Atlee are in Hanover County; the other area schools are in Chesterfield.

During the past five years of rankings, only one Henrico County school -- Douglas Freeman last year -- made the list, and no Richmond schools have placed.

Midlothian and Clover Hill have been ranked in each of the past five years. Atlee and James River have been in the survey for four straight years.

Woodlawn High School in Arlington County has been the state's top-ranked school each of the five years, but its place has slipped from fifth nationally in 2005 to 36th in the current survey.

There were 85 Virginia schools on this year's list, down from 87 last year and 89 in 2007.

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 649-8179 or @timesdispatch.com.