Florida is home to 18 of the top 100 public high schools in the nation according to a ranking published in the most recent issue of Newsweek magazine, which hit newsstands on May 10. Included on the list are six schools from the eight counties that participated in the recent Central Florida Education Summit.

Newsweek’s Best High Schools List uses a ratio, the number of Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) tests taken by all students at a school in 2004, divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Hillsborough County boasts three schools in the top 100 nationally as Hillsborough High School was number 10, King High School number 36 and Plant High School number 69. Also making the list was Spruce Creek High School from Volusia County (number 54), Lake Brantley High School from Seminole County (number 79) and Cocoa Beach High School from Brevard County (number 89).

Florida and New York tied for top honors in the top 100 as each state had 18 schools on the list. However, Florida had four schools ranked in the top ten while the top school from New York State was ranked number 14. Virginia was the only other school with double-digit inclusion with 10.

Increasing the number of students participating in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs is one of the goals of the PRISM (Promoting Regional Improvement in Science and Math) Initiative, which was unveiled at the Central Florida Education Summit and will look to move Central Florida Public Schools into the top 10 percent nationally over the next decade.