Sarasota County school rated best high school in Florida in new rankings

Steven Walker, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read

Pine View School was rated the best high school in Florida in new rankings released by U.S. News and World Report Tuesday morning.

The ranking reflects an increase from the previous year's rankings, where Pine View was listed as the second-best in the state. The school was also ranked the 18th-best high school in the country, reflecting a five-spot drop from last year's national ranking. Two other Sarasota County high schools, Suncoast Polytechnical and Riverview, ranked in the top 100 of Florida high schools at 37th and 71st respectively. The rankings represented an increase of 17 spots for Riverview High School, and a decrease of one spot for Suncoast Polytechnical.

U.S. News & World Report rankings are calculated in six weighted categories: college readiness (30%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), college curriculum breadth (10%), underserved student performance (10%) and graduation rate (10%).

Pine View Principal Stephen Covert said that while celebrating rankings is important, they do fluctuate over the years and are more indicative of the overall success of the school's mission.

Pine View School principal Stephen Covert reacts to the announcement of his 2023 Principal of the Year award.
Pine View School principal Stephen Covert reacts to the announcement of his 2023 Principal of the Year award.

“At Pine View, the success and achievements of our students are a direct result of their incredible hard work, committed and highly trained teachers, wonderfully supportive and involved parents, and a district which enables this excellence to happen – all in the presence of high expectations," Covert said in a statement.

Pine View, which serves about 700 students, is a 2nd-12th grade public magnet school for gifted students that regularly earns awards and recognition, and Suncoast Polytechnical is a technology magnet school offering college readiness courses.

With an enrollment of more than 2,000 students, Riverview High School was the largest Sarasota high school ranked in the top 100 Florida high schools. The school hosts an International Baccalaureate (IB) program for a portion of its high school students.

Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Pine View School in Sarasota County named top high school in Florida