Texas Border Business
MERCEDES, Texas — All four South Texas Independent School District (STISD) high schools ranked within the top four percent of schools in the state and nation in the 2024 Best High Schools Rankings recently released by U.S. News & World Report.
In the state rankings, South Texas ISD Science Academy (Science Academy) in Mercedes ranked 41st, South Texas ISD Medical Professions in Olmito ranked 65th, South Texas ISD Health Professions in Mercedes ranked 69th, and South Texas ISD World Scholars (formerly South Texas Business, Education & Technology Academy) in Edinburg ranked 88th. Out of nearly 18,000 public high schools from across the nation ranked in this year’s list, Science Academy ranked 291st, Medical Professions ranked 506th, Health Professions ranked 514th, and World Scholars ranked 644th.
According to U.S. News, the six measures that determined each school’s rank and their weights for the 2024 edition are unchanged from last year. The most recent year of data that was available was used in the rankings since COVID-19 testing waivers or other pandemic issues no longer affected states’ data. The factors include: College Readiness (30% of the ranking); College Curriculum Breadth (10%); State Assessment Proficiency (20%); State Assessment Performance (20%); Underserved Student Performance (10%); and Graduation Rate (10%).
South Texas ISD is a state- and nationally-recognized public school district offering tuition-free college- and career-preparation to students from Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy Counties. The all-magnet district is comprised of seven secondary campuses within the Rio Grande Valley, including four high schools serving grades 9-12 – South Texas ISD Health Professions (Health Professions) in Mercedes, South Texas ISD Medical Professions (Medical Professions) in Olmito, South Texas ISD Science Academy (Science Academy) in Mercedes, and South Texas ISD World Scholars (World Scholars) in Edinburg – two middle schools serving grades 6-8 – South Texas ISD Preparatory Academy (Preparatory Academy) in Edinburg and South Texas ISD Rising Scholars Academy (Rising Scholars Academy) in San Benito – and one stand-alone virtual school to serve students in grades 6-12. For additional information, call 1-800-21STUDY or visit www.stisd.net.
