Los Alamitos High Ranked Among Nation's Toughest Schools

Does your teenager complain about classes and homework at Los Alamitos High School? 

He or she might be justified in griping.

According to annual rankings created by the Washington Post, Los Alamitos High School is among the more challenging public high schools in the country. In California, it ranks No. 141, after other Orange County schools such as Oxford Academy in Cypress, Troy in Fullerton, and University in Irvine.

Los Alamitos High School moved up 39 spots from last year, when it ranked No. 180 in California.

Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews has rated public high schools around the country for the past 15 years based on something called the “Challenge Index.” The index takes the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at the school that year and divides it by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June. 

“With a few exceptions, public schools that achieved a ratio of at least 1.000, meaning they had as many tests in 2012 as they had graduates, were put on the national list at washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge,” Mathews explains in a Washington Post story. Before posting the list, he also filters out magnet or charter high schools that have few average-performing students.

This year, only 9 percent of the approximately 22,000 U.S. public high schools were included on the list, according to Mathews.