BREAKING NEWS: Break Out the Broom BASIS Curriculum Schools Sweep Top Five Spots in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report Rankings

In what is an unparalleled achievement in the annals of American educational assessment, the top five high schools in the United States are BASIS Curriculum Schools, as are six of the nation’s top eight, and seven of America’s top fourteen, according to U.S. News & World Report‘s “America’s Best High Schools” 2018 rankings.

Here are the seven BASIS Curriculum Schools eligible for the numeric rankings:

• #1 BASIS Scottsdale
• #2 BASIS Chandler
• #3 BASIS Oro Valley
• #4 BASIS Tucson North
• #5 BASIS Flagstaff
• #8 BASIS Peoria
• #14 BASIS Phoenix

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  BASIS Oro Valley students
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This is the second consecutive year that BASIS Scottsdale has earned the ranking of #1 high school in the U.S. Prior to that, BASIS Scottsdale was #2 nationally for three straight years, in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

“Our network continues to grow – continues to deliver our program to more students in more schools – while maintaining the high standards for which we’re well known,” said Michael Block, the network’s co-founder. “And yet, rigorous assessment like the U.S. News rankings keep proving, year after year, that our network is unmatched in American education.”

“This is about the students,” added co-founder Olga Block. “The rankings are a symbol of the bigger picture – a fantastic symbol — but not the bottom line.

“Let’s remember: inside these highly-ranked schools are thousands of students who study the BASIS Curriculum and learn from BASIS teachers. The rankings are awesome, but the education is what benefits each student’s life! Learning is the entire point of what we do.”

BASIS Chandler is the nation’s #2 school in just its second year of eligibility for the U.S. News numeric rankings. Last year, it ranked #7.

Meanwhile, this is the first year that BASIS Flagstaff and BASIS Phoenix are eligible, giving BASIS Charter Schools a total of seven campuses eligible for numeric rankings, which U.S. News calls its “Gold badge” and Silver badge” schools. (These same seven campuses are also eligible for rankings by The Washington Post, which are expected to be published later in May.)

“What started as a dream of Michael and Olga Block some twenty years ago has become an amazing success story,” said Dr. Craig Barrett, Chairman of BASIS Charter Schools, Inc. “We owe much to the BASIS founders and the hard work of all involved.

“We are so proud of all of the accomplishments of our administrators, teachers, students and parents – including having the top five ranked public schools in the country. It is an affirmation of their hard work and the success of the BASIS model.”

Last year (2017), the BASIS Curriculum Schools network had five schools eligible for the U.S. News numeric rankings, and had the top three schools in the U.S., four of the top five, and five of the top seven.

“We’re always gratified by rankings like this; it never gets old,” said BASIS.ed CEO Peter Bezanson. “But these, in 2018, are beyond expectation, an extraordinary achievement for public charter schools. Every student, every teacher, every parent, and every staff-member — not just at the ranked schools, but across our network — should feel quite proud, deservingly proud. It validates what we have dedicated our professional lives to do.”

This is the tenth set of high school rankings that U.S. News & World Report has published, following rankings published annually from 2007-2009, and 2012-2018. These rankings in particular are a highly-regarded assessment of how American schools compare to other schools statewide and nationally, as well as how well these schools prepare students for college, utilizing what the publication calls its “College Readiness Index.” Scores on the College Readiness Index range from 0 to 100, and you can see each school’s score when you click on a school name within the rankings. You can read about the U.S. News methodology for determining the rankings, here.

BASIS Oro Valley ranks #3 in the nation for the second consecutive year; its first year in the rankings was in 2016, when it came in at #6.

This is the ten-year anniversary of BASIS Tucson North‘s first appearance in the U.S. News rankings: in 2008, the school was America’s #16 high school. Last year, BASIS Tucson North was #2, and it was #3 in 2016.

BASIS Peoria returns to the U.S. News rankings after making its first appearance last year, as the nation’s #5 school.

“The stark reality is that the BASIS model works, we do more with less, and the children of Arizona are the beneficiaries,” Dr. Barrett added.

U.S. News and World Report also ranks the top charter schools in the United States. BASIS Curriculum Schools were the top five charter schools and #7 and #8 in the nation.

In addition, five BASIS Curriculum Schools are in the top thirty STEM schools in the U.S. according to the U.S. News STEM school rankings: #2 STEM school BASIS Scottsdale, #14 STEM school BASIS Chandler, #15 STEM school BASIS Oro Valley, # 23 STEM school BASIS Tucson North, and #28 STEM school BASIS Peoria.

The seven ranked BASIS charter schools are the top seven schools in the state of Arizona, per the U.S. News state-by-state rankings.

Three BASIS Curriculum Schools will be newly-eligible for the U.S. News & World Report numeric rankings next year: BASIS Ahwatukee, BASIS Mesa, and BASIS Prescott. This year, in 2018, each of those schools was awarded what U.S. News calls its Bronze badge – a symbol of achievement and recognition for a school not yet eligible for numeric rankings because it has not fully matured with regard to the number of 12th grade students.