Evanston Township High School was ranked the 10th most challenging high school in Illinois by The Washington Post, placing it in the top 1 percent in the country.

The Post this month released its annual national report, “America’s Most Challenging High Schools,” and this year only 11 percent of the nearly public and private high schools in the United States made the list, according to a news release from ETHS.

At the state level, the high school jumped from No. 17 to No. 10 in 2016, and at the national level from No. 585 to No. 287.

“Seeing our state and national ranking going up and up in recent years is a tribute to our students and staff,” ETHS District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon said in the release. “We have raised expectations for all students and have built a system of supports to increase the achievement of all students.”

The statement said the position increases are correlated to students being able to access Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education courses and tests.

ETHS’ Equity and Excellence rate, the percentage of all graduating seniors who had at least one score of three or above on at least one AP test in high school, was 60 percent in 2015 as reported by The Washington Post. The news release said the College Board found the average rate in 2014 to be about 22 percent.

“By being recognized as one of the top high schools in the nation,” Witherspoon said in the release, “we are striving to model that a comprehensive public high school which is truly diverse racially and socio-economically can, indeed, provide opportunity for all students to thrive in our most challenging classes, for all students to get the best education preparing them for college and career.”

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