Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation is proud to announce that Mt. Vernon High School (MVHS) has been ranked one of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best High Schools” for 2024. MVHS was named to the top 40% of the nation’s high schools and is now ranked 47th within Indiana and 15th in the Indianapolis metro area. The 2024 edition of Best High Schools includes a numerical ranking of nearly all public high schools nationwide – almost 18,000 of them. See the full U.S. News & World Report on Mt. Vernon High School here.  

MVHS Principal, Mrs. Brooke Tharp, comments, “I am pleased to see Mt. Vernon High School receive such a high ranking by U.S. News & World Report within our county, the metro area, the state, and nationally. I believe it is a strong reflection of our school's high-performing students and our teachers' hard work to provide academic excellence. As our school continues to grow, our focus is to make our students’ education the top priority and provide an immersive positive learning environment to help prepare them for their futures.”

The methodology in ranking the schools included collecting data from the nation’s state departments of education and using data from public high schools with 12th-grade enrollment of 15 students or greater. The Common Core of Data, College Board (particularly for the AP test data) and the statewide accountability proficiency test results were used as measurements for school data. 

For this accolade, the U.S. News & World Report uses data from the 2022-2023, 2021-2022 and 2020-2021 academic years. During these years, the calculated AP® participation rate at Mt Vernon High School was 42% and the college readiness index was 28.7. The college readiness index rank is based on the proportion of seniors who took and passed at least one AP exam. MVHS students’ national percentile on college-level advanced placement (AP) exams was an incredible 84.9%. The graduation rate was 94%, averaging well above the state median.

U.S. News and World Report used a four-step process to determine the Best High Schools and their rankings. The first three steps ensure that the schools serve all of their students well. If schools made it past the first three steps, a fourth step assessed the degree schools prepare students for college-level work.

Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation is proud to be recognized for the strong academic success of Mt. Vernon High School's students, staff, and leadership.