U.S. News and World Report 2019 rankings of the country's best high schools are out, and Alabama had one high school----Loveless Academic Magnet Program in Montgomery ranked 13th in the nation--- near the top of the national list.

The next-closest Alabama school in the national ranking is Mountain Brook High School, located in the state's wealthiest suburb and ranked 213th out of more than 17,000 schools nationwide.

This is the first time U.S. News' ranking includes nearly every high school, up from last year's ranking of 2,700 schools.

The new methodology relies heavily on student access to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses and tests, state standardized test results, and graduation rates. As a result, those schools whose students performed at high levels were ranked highly.

U.S. News described its top-ranked public schools for 2019 as "those whose attendees demonstrated outstanding outcomes above expectations in math and reading state assessments, passed and participated in a diverse array of college-level exams and graduated in high proportions."

Since the methodology changed so significantly, U.S. News cautioned readers not to compare a school's ranking in the 2019 Best High Schools ranking with any previous ranking.

In addition to the national ranking, U.S. News ranked high schools within each state, and schools ranked in the top 25 are shown below.

Huntsville City Schools has three high schools in the top 25, the most of any Alabama school district. Madison City, Montgomery County, and Shelby County each have two high schools in the top 25.

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Alabama's top 25 schools have some things in common, but are diverse in other ways:

Twenty of the top 25 earned either A on the most recent state report card, and five earned B's,

All of the schools were either grades 9 through 12 or grades 10 through 12,

Eight schools have fewer than 1,000 students, 17 have more than 1,000,

The smallest high school on the list has 452 students, and the largest has nearly 2,200,

Less than half of the student body is in poverty, measured by the percentage of students whose families are eligible for government assistance for low-income families,

At 13 of the schools, fewer than one in four students are in poverty,

Twelve of the 25 schools spent less than the state average per student funding ($9,497 for the 2017 fiscal year)

Twenty-one of the 25 spent more than the state average ($1,903) in local tax dollars ($1,903 for the 2017 fiscal year),

Eighteen of the 25 are located in cities or suburbs,

Eleven are located in and around the Birmingham area, and

Four of the top 25 are magnet schools.

Here are the top 25 schools, counting down to number one. Alabama schools ranked 26th through 248th are at the end of this article. Schools whose scores were in the bottom 25 percent were not ranked by U.S. News.

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#25 - Shades Valley High School

Jefferson County schools

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 46%

Enrollment: 1,338

Total spending per student (2017): $9,085

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,646

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Paul Gattis

#24 - Grissom High School

Huntsville City schools

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 32%

Enrollment: 1,810

Total spending per student (2017): $10,809

Local spending per student , included in total above (2017): $3,667

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Shelby County Schools

#23 - Helena High School

Shelby County schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 17%

Enrollment: 1,281

Total spending per student (2017): $9,613

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,667

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#22 - Muscle Shoals High School

Muscle Shoals City schools

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 27%

Enrollment: 874

Total spending per student (2017): $10,147

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,812

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#21 - Hartselle High School

Hartselle City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 21%

Enrollment: 1,008

Total spending per student (2017): $8,930

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,175

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#20 Hewitt-Trussville High School

Trussville City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 8%

Enrollment: 1,489

Total spending per student (2017): $9,824

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,958

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#19 - Oneonta High School

Oneonta City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 38%

Enrollment: 452

Total spending per student (2017): $8,206

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,126

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#18 - Northridge High School

Tuscaloosa City schools

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 25%

Enrollment: 1,002

Total spending per student (2017): $11,161

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,193

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#17 - Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School

Montgomery County schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 25%

Enrollment: 530

Total spending per student (2017): $9,080

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,383

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#16 - Enterprise High School

Enterprise City schools

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 36%

Enrollment: 2,177

Total spending per student (2017): $8,748

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,627

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#15 - Huntsville High School

Huntsville City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 22%

Enrollment: 1,828

Total spending per student (2017): $10,809

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,667

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#14 - Cullman High School

Cullman City schools

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 29%

Enrollment: 928

Total spending per student (2017): $9,020

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,158

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#13 - Auburn High School

Auburn City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 20%

Enrollment: 1,844

Total spending per student (2017): $9,472

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,852

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#12 - Fairhope High School

Baldwin County schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 27%

Enrollment: 1,616

Total spending per student (2017): $9,146

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,251

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#11 - Ramsay High School

Birmingham City schools (magnet)

2018 report card grade: B

Student poverty level: 38%

Enrollment: 800

Total spending per student (2017): $10,792

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,537

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#10 - Arab High School

Arab City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 27%

Enrollment: 760

Total spending per student (2017): $9,202

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,903

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#9 - Spain Park High School

Hoover City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 14%

Enrollment: 1,626

Total spending per student (2017): $10,782

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,754

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#8 - Vestavia Hills High School

Vestavia Hills City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 9%

Enrollment: 2,032

Total spending per student (2017): $11,031

Local spending per student (2017): $4,727

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#7 - James Clemens High School

Madison City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 16%

Enrollment: 1,911

Total spending per student (2017): $9,339

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,483

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#6 - Oak Mountain High School

Shelby County schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 11%

Enrollment: 1,572

Total spending per student (2017): $9,613

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,667

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#5 - Bob Jones High School

Madison City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 19%

Enrollment: 1,779

Total spending per student (2017): $9,339

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,483

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#4 Homewood High School

Homewood City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 23%

Enrollment: 1,226

Total spending per student (2017): $11,431

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $4,699

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#3 - New Century Technology High School

Huntsville City schools (magnet)

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 27%

Enrollment: 465

Total spending per student (2017): $10,809

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,667

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#2 - Mountain Brook High School

Mountain Brook City schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 0%

Enrollment: 1,051

Total spending per student (2017): $13,141

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $7,094

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#1 - LAMP High School

Montgomery County schools

2018 report card grade: A

Student poverty level: 8%

Enrollment: 507

Total spending per student (2017): $9,080

Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,383

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Here are the factors U.S. News used for its 2019 rankings:

College readiness - participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams,

Reading and math proficiency – based on state tests,

Reading and math performance – actual versus predicted outcomes on state tests,

Underserved student performance – outcomes for black, Hispanic and low-income students,

College curriculum breadth – based on outcomes on AP and IB tests, and

Graduation rates – based on 2016-17 graduation rates.

The new ranking method assigns weights to those factors and produces an overall score. This differs from the previous process with used a four-step process and then used college readiness as the way to determine a school's rank.

“We enhanced the methodology to provide an even more comprehensive ranking that is easier to understand and, therefore, more useful to parents and educators,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News. “Now, each school’s score correlates to its national percentile – a school with a score of 70 is in the 70th percentile and ranks higher than 70% of schools. Going forward, this methodology will allow for intuitive comparisons of a school’s performance year after year."

Alabama schools ranked 26th through 248th are pictured below. Schools in the bottom quartile were not ranked and are not listed.

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