By Jorge Casuso

April 26, 2022 -- Relying on prior years' data due to school shutdowns, U.S. News and World Report ranked Samohi among the top 850 high schools in the nation in its 2022 rankings.

The school ranked 829 among the nation's 17,840 public high schools -- among the top 5 percent -- in the popular annual listing.

Samohi ranked 108 among 2,572 high schools in California and 48 among the 478 high schools ranked in the LA Metro area, according to the publication (For LA area rankings click here).

Malibu High School didn't fare as well, ranking 1,170 in the national rankings, 176 among State schools and 79 in the LA area rankings.

"The Best High Schools rankings take a comprehensive approach to evaluating schools," said Eric Brooks, principal data analyst at U.S. News.

"Looking at factors like graduation rates and underserved student performance, families can use this information to learn more about their local schools."

The methodology focuses on six factors -- college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.

This year, the publication said it "adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on schools in the 2019-2020 school year."

"With most states closing schools for in-person instruction beginning in March 2020 -- typically just before most states conduct assessments -- the U.S. Department of Education granted waivers allowing all states to forego state testing for the 2019-2020 school year," the report said.

U.S. News instead "relied on historic assessment data from the three prior ranking years," according to the report.

For the first time, "it also incorporated state science assessment data from the 2018-2019 school year to capture a broader measure of student learning."

The rankings also include data on such factors as enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price lunch programs and the results of state assessments.

According to Samhi's overview, "Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® coursework and exams." The AP® participation rate was 67 percent.

The total minority enrollment at Samohi is 59 percent, and 24 percent of students are economically disadvantaged.

According to Malibu's overview, the total minority enrollment is 24 percent, and 12 percent of students are economically disadvantaged.

The top ranked high school in the LA area was Whitney High School in Cerritos, followed by California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson.

Whitnety was one of two Long Bach Unified School District schools ranked in the top five. The other was the Eunice Sato Academy of Math & Science.

The Los Angeles Unified School District had three high schools ranked among the region's top ten.