Just in time for the start of the school year, Newsweek on Wednesday released its annual list of the top public high schools in America for 2015.

Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia topped Newsweek's rankings for the second year in a row. The list included 500 high schools.

The rankings were compiled using several metrics, including graduation rates, college enrollment, SAT and ACT scores, and teacher-student ratio, among others.

"Some factors are more important, especially since our rankings focus on college readiness," Jim Impoco, editor-in -chief of Newsweek, told Patch. "We place emphasis on criteria like college enrollment and graduation rate since we know that those are some of the biggest indicators of whether students are prepared for college."