This week the Washington Post released its America's Most Challenging High Schools report, which ranks the nation's public high schools using an index formula that’s a simple ratio: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year divided by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June of that year.

Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 233 was ranked the top public high school in Chicago’s South Suburbs at No. 55 in Illinois and No. 1,495 in the country. The school’s individual Challenge Index has increased from 1.489 last year to a score of 1.594 this year, indicating that more students are taking challenging courses at H-F.

“Homewood-Flossmoor is getting the job done: we compete and rank among the best schools in the nation,” says Dr. Von Mansfield, District 233 superintendent."Equally important, more of our students are accepting the challenges that come from a rigorous curriculum."

According to the Washington Post, only nine percent of the approximate 22,000 U.S. public high schools earned placement on this year’s Challenge Index list. Only two other South Suburban public high schools were ranked — Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park (No. 61) and Lockport Township High School (No. 62) — and one private South Suburban school: Marian Catholic High School (No. 30). The complete Washington Post report is available at apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge.