Newsweek Again Names The Preuss School UCSD the Nation’s Top Transformative High School

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The Preuss School has been consistently ranked as one of America’s best high schools by the Newsweek, Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report, among other ranking institutions. Photo by Carol Sonstein

The Preuss School UCSD––a charter middle and high school on the campus of UC San Diego for motivated, low-income students whose parents have not graduated from college––has again been named the top transformative school in the country by Newsweek magazine for the school’s ability to lead the way in getting low-income and first-generation students ready for college and beyond.

The ranking is included in the “America’s Best High Schools” list, published today. In addition to being named the #1 Transformative High School in the U.S., The Preuss School is also ranked at the top of all San Diego County high schools and is ranked 30th overall in the nation.

To compile the transformative list, Newsweek took the scores from its top 1,000 schools and factored in the percentage of students who qualified for free- or reduced-price lunches—the most reliable measure of socio-economic status in American high schools, according to Newsweek.

The Preuss School UCSD proved transformative for senior Mustafa Malik. “When I came to Preuss, I was the shy, overweight, invisible kid,” Malik said. “But I was encouraged and supported to speak in public, to take on leadership roles and become fit through basketball. The school changed my life.  I learned to have a presence among my peers.”

Malik will attend Yale University in the fall.

According to Newsweek, schools that restrict admissions based on academics were ineligible; the purpose of the transformative list is to highlight schools where enthusiasm is the only defining metric.

“It’s our mission at The Preuss School to increase social mobility and empower students, many of whom rise above countless obstacles to become the first generation in their families who will receive a college education,” said Scott Barton, principal of The Preuss School UCSD. “Our school provides an environment of high expectations where students are continually encouraged to develop a greater sense of confidence and pride in themselves and their academic accomplishments.”

The Preuss School has been consistently ranked as one of America’s best high schools by the Newsweek, Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report, among other ranking institutions. With 816 students in grades 6-12, The Preuss School has an exemplary Academic Performance Index Score (API) of 899, one of the highest in the county. The school, located on the UC San Diego campus, is jointly chartered by UC San Diego and the San Diego Unified School District.

Click here, for the full list of Newsweek’s “America’s Best High Schools.”  For more information on The Preuss School UCSD, go to http://preuss.ucsd.edu.