Two of the best high schools in the nation are located right here in Bee County.

U.S. News & World Report lists Pettus High School and Skidmore-Tynan High School as two of the top high schools in America.

The publication announced its annual survey in its December edition.

“Skidmore-Tynan High School’s national recognition for the second year in a row brings tremendous pride to me and the entire school district community,” said Superintendent Brett Belmarez.

“The entire high school staff and their leader, Mrs. Patty Holubec, have built and sustained a culture of student success in S-T. The campus and the district as a whole both take great pride in smart, hard work — especially for our students who are the least advantaged and those who benefit the most from great teaching.”

Pettus Superintendent Tucker Rackley was equally proud of the recognition the high school campus received in the national publication.

“I am very proud of Pettus High School for receiving this recognition,” he said. “I have always said that good hard work pays off; the staff and students get credit for that.”

He also attributes much of the recognition to the a sound educational philosophy.

“Our philosophy in Pettus ISD is ‘daily accountability.’ Teachers are held accountable for being organized and teaching every day,” he explained. “Students are held accountable for their part in their education every day. It great to see our children rise to a high level and it is great to see them receive some recognition for it.”

Belmarez said STISD shares the same philosophy of hard work and high expectations.

“The leadership and the staff at STHS expect a lot from students, and they give much to students in return by building and developing solid, individual, appropriate relationships that last a lifetime,” he said.

The recognition is even more amazing given the stringent requirements needed to make the coveted list, he said.

“They analyzed 18,790 schools and recognized 1,591 of them,” Rackley said. “In Texas, 122 high schools were recognized. Pettus High School is one of these 122 schools.”

He said U.S News & World Report used a three-step process to determine the best high schools. The first two steps ensured that the schools serve all of their students well, using state proficiency standards as the measuring benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepared students for college-level work.