Updated 8 a.m. Wednesday
Brentwood Home Page news reports
Brentwood High School moved up into the Top 100 of public high schools in the nation, and Ravenwood jumped more than 200 places in the 2011 rankings by Newsweek.

BHS, rated 218 last year, moved up to the No. 100 and ranks only behind Metro-Nashville's Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School in Tennessee. Hume-Fogg slipped one spot from 32nd to 33rd, while Martin Luther King Jr. magnet high school dropped out.

RHS jumped up into 284th in the listings after being rated 489th last year. A third Williamson County high school, Page, also broke into the top 500 at No. 494.

Brentwood and Ravenwood were ranked third and fourth, respectively, among Tennessee public high schools by the Washington Post, behind Hume-Fogg and MLK. In the Post's national ratings, BHS ranked 250th and Ravenwood 532nd.

On Monday, Brentwood High School principal Kevin Keidel explained that the person who has compiled previous Newsweek lists had moved to the Washington Post to put together the list it released earlier this spring. This year's Newsweek rankings were more comprehensive than the previous grading, which only compared the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests taken to the number of students graduating.

Keidel noted that Brentwood is the No. 1 comprehensive high school in the state. While public, both Hume-Fogg and MLK students must meet certain academic requirements in order to apply for Metro's magnet school lottery. He said he was very proud of his school's Newsweek ranking, especially given the expanded criteria.

The new formula is:

• Four-year, on-time graduation rate (25%)
•  Percent of 2010 graduates who enrolled immediately in college (25%)
• AP/IB/AICE tests per graduate (25%)
•  Average SAT and/or ACT score (10%)
• Average AP/IB/AICE exam score (10%)
• AP/IB/AICE courses offered per graduate (5%)

Ravenwood principal, Dr. Pam Vaden said Tuesday she had not been aware of the change in the formula. "I think the big difference for me looking at that is that for the first time, they also included the scores," she said.

Asked what she thinks drives Ravenwood's academic success, Vaden credited her staff's collaborative nature. "That's how we began 10 years ago. ... We started out as a small group of teachers, only 32 teachers, and we all decided we wanted to create a high school we had never taught in before but wished we would have."

She said that vision included working together onsame-subject teams and sharing information "so that it benefits students. I think that's what's helped us really be competitive."

Asked if there is a real rivalry between her school and BHS, she said it's a friendly one.

"...That's where i started, at Brentwood High School, and I know many people over there and respect what they do. It definitely keeps a sense of urgency around here," she said. "It's a positive thing. ... I have felt that Brentwood does keep us feeling this sense of urgency. They are a wonderful school, that's for sure."

"This year's ranking is an affirmation that our principals are working hard to rally their school communities in an effort to realize our collective goals," Williamson County Schools superintendent Dr. Mike Looney said. "The ranking represents an improvement over past rankings but we are only just beginning.

"We will not rest, yield, or be satisfied until all of our schools top the charts."