By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–In good times and in periods of chaos, Union City High School still ranks among the very best in both the nation and in Tennessee.
U.S. News and World Report has listed UCHS as a 2020 Best High School for the fifth time in the last six years in its annual rankings of high schools across America.
By earning a national ranking in the top 40 percent among more than 18,000 high schools in the country that were rated, Union City achieved the elite “U.S. News Best High School” designation and opportunity to prominently display a U.S. News-trademarked “Best High Schools” award banner.
UCHS earned similar statuses in 2015, ’16, ’17, and ’19.
Additionally, Union City High ranked 33rd overall in Tennessee – the highest among rural West Tennessee institutions and of nearly 400 schools in the state, according to USNWR data. UCHS posted an overall score of 85.39 and had a graduation rate of 94 percent.
The overall score is calculated by the ranking of six indicators that carry varying weights. They include college readiness (30 percent), college curriculum breadth (10 percent), math and reading proficiency (20 percent), math and reading performance (20 percent), underserved student performance (10 percent) and graduation rate (10 percent).
The highest ranked U.S. public schools in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best High Schools rankings are those whose attendees demonstrate outstanding outcomes above expectations in math and reading state assessments and pass a diverse array of college-level exams while graduating in high proportions.
“What a wonderful tribute to the continued commitment to academic excellence of our entire student body, our faculty and our staff,” said UCHS Principal Jacob Cross, an alumnus of the school with more than a dozen years of administration experience.
“This type of recognition on both the national and state stage is something that will never become old hat – no matter how many times it happens. It continues to make me a proud UCHS graduate as well as an administrator in our system.”
U.S. News and World Report was founded in 1933 as a news magazine that transitioned to primarily web-based publishing in 2010. It is widely considered as America’s oldest and best-known ranker of academic institutions, and covers health, technology and politics, along with education.
Since 1983 it has been primarily known for its influential and annual reports of colleges and graduate schools, spanning across most fields and subjects.