Washington Post Recognizes Mira Costa

Mira Costa High School made the Washington Post’s list of the most challenging high schools, according to rankings released last week. Hermosa Beach residents have the choice of attending Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach or Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach. 

The Washington Post’s High School Challenge ranked Mira Costa 81st in the state for how it prepares students for college. Nationally, the school was ranked 729th out of the 1,900 schools that made the list.

Only 9 percent of the country’s approximately 22,000 schools made the list, including 229 in California.

Nevertheless, this was a drop in the ranking for Mira Costa. Last year, it ranked 66th of 293 schools in California, and 545th of all 1,900 schools.

To grade the schools, the Washington Post divided the number of college preparation tests that students took by the number of graduating seniors. Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests were all tallied. Schools with a score above 1.0 made the list.

Mira Costa scored 2.404—less than last year's score of 2.592.

The list excludes magnets and charter schools that have average SAT or ACT scores greater than the highest average for normal enrollment schools—which translates to 2000 for the SAT or 29.3 for the ACT.

—Editor Nicole Mooradian contributed to this report.