T.A. Keating ’13 | Entertainment Editor

Grosse Pointe South is the top-ranked non-magnet public school in Michigan, according to US News and World Report.

“It’s an honor to be the principal of this school,” said Principal Matt Outlaw, shortly after hearing the news. “It’s the efforts of our students, parents and our teachers that made this happen.”

“I think it’s because we’ve got the best students in the world,” said Latin teacher David Smith.

The rankings are based on four factors: college readiness index, scored by percent of students passing college readiness tests; reading proficiency, scored from 0 to 3.2; math proficiency, scored from 0 to 3.7; and student-faculty ratio. Almost 50 percent of South students were college ready, and South’s reading and math scores are both 3. South has 17 students for every one faculty member.

Grosse Pointe North trailed behind, below the top 50 and thus not given a number rank, according US News.

Although South technically was ranked third, it was the top-ranked non-magnet school, said Outlaw. One of the two schools ahead of South was the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, an International Baccalaureate school, where only top-performing students are allowed entrance. The same applies to Black River High School in Holland, on the West side of the state.

“Parents (take a large amount of credit) for instilling a value of education in our students,” said Outlaw. He also credited student effort and quality of the teachers as key factors.

“The students have put in unbelievable effort,” said Outlaw, “and then we have a teaching staff that, I think, is on par with any staff you could find across the nation.”

For the future, Outlaw’s focus for the school is an “ensurance of success” for every student.