Three local public high schools are included in the latest “Best High School” listing compiled by U.S. News & World Report.

Vanguard, Lake Weir, and West Port High schools respectively earned silver, silver, and bronze medals in the latest round comparing 21,000 charter, magnet, and public high schools nationwide. Only the top 22 percent made this year’s list, including 119 schools in Florida.

Vanguard placed 1,174th and earned silver; Lake Weir ranked 2,108th and also earned silver; West Port earned bronze but was not specifically ranked because its college readiness score was below the national median.

Compared with 777 Florida high schools, Vanguard ranked 61st and Lake Weir 86th. National and state rankings considered three factors – performance of all students on state standards testing, performance of least-advantaged students on state standards testing, and college-readiness performance using Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) numbers. Belleview and North Marion High schools offer AICE testing (Advanced International Certificate of Education) but this is not considered in U.S. News’ rankings.

Last month, five local schools made the “Most Challenging High School” list released by the Washington Post. They included Belleview (511), Vanguard (577), North Marion (1,231), Forest (1,579), and Lake Weir (1,813).

For more information visit www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools.