Better than Dallas

The 13th best high school in the country is in Houston — City gets props inNewsweek rankings

Newsweek has released its annual America's Best High Schools list, with one Houston school earning high accolades.

Andrew Carnegie Vanguard High School, a selective enrollment secondary school in the Houston Independent School District, ranked No. 13 in a list of the 1,000 top U.S. schools.

The news magazine based the rankings on self-reported statistics and a set of weighted criteria: Timely graduation rate, college acceptance rate, average SAT and/or ACT scores and the number of college-level exams (AP, IB and AICE) offered and taken, per student, and the average scores on those exams.

Though Carnegie Vanguard had a higher spot (No. 11) in the 2011 rankings, the school had a better overall score in the 2012 rankings, thanks to a 100-percent graduation rate and 100-percent college acceptance rate and an average SAT score of 1849.

Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky topped the national list at No. 1, but Texas high schools represented well overall, with 86 throughout the state — 18 in Houston alone, five in Austin and nine in Dallas — making the cut.

Other Houston-area schools ranked in the top 1,000 include: Eastwood Academy (No. 72), Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions (No. 75), Harmony School of Advancement (No. 149), High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (No. 162), Seven Lakes (No. 277), Memorial (No. 307), Cinco Ranch (No. 354), The Woodlands College Park (No. 382), Clear Horizons Early College (No. 401), Harmony Science Academy (No. 404), Westchester Academy for International Studies (No. 414), Bellaire (No. 439), Challenge Early College (No. 446), Kipp Houston (No. 522), Cypress Woods (No. 536), James E. Taylor (no. 599), Yes Prep Public Schools-North Central Campus (No. 611), The Woodlands (No. 626), Clear Lake (No. 634), High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (No. 685), Stratford (No. 700), Glenda Dawson (No. 805), Yes Prep Southeast (No. 862), Mirabeau B. Lamar (No. 883), Dulles (No. 950), Clear Creek (No. 951), Friendswood (No. 952), Mount Caramel Academy (No. 957) and Cypress Ranch (No. 969).

Check out the rest of the list here.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”