The title of top high school in Tennessee has moved to Murfreesboro for the first time. Central Magnet jumped to number one in the closely watched U.S. News and World Report rankings.
Nashville’s Hume Fogg and MLK magnets
have gone back and forth as Tennessee’s top high school — often ranking in the top 50 nationwide. This year, it’s Central at the top, at number 37 in the country.
Hume Fogg was 58.
MLK dropped to 121.
Schools are ranked — in part — by how many graduates are considered college-ready. For Central, that was nearly 97 percent. The 6th-through-12th grade school also had 100 percent of students score proficient in English and math.
Principal John Ash says he’s particularly proud of the 92 percent pass rate for advanced placement tests.
“AP — to us — is a good indicator because it does compare our best students to other schools’ best students,” Ash says. “So when we have a high level of success there, we take a lot of pride.”
Central is
located in an old building, but it’s a young school. It’s only been around since 2010, meaning its first 6
th-graders graduate this year. Ash says it will be difficult to see them go.
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