Debra Zei teaches Houghton High School students in her AP Calculus class Tuesday afternoon. The school ranked 364th in the recent U.S. News & World Report ranking of the top 500 high school in the country for science, technology, engineering and math. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — A fixture on U.S. News & World Reports’ annual list of top schools, Houghton High School recently received another honor.

The school ranked 364th in the magazine’s list of the top 500 high schools in the country for science, technology, engineering and math. 

Schools could be considered if they already ranked in the top 2,000 in U.S. News’ Best High Schools list; Houghton qualified there, placing 1,171st nationwide.

“Looking at 2,000 across the nation out of 26,000, just to be considered in the top 2,000 is a huge achievement, and to make it in the top 500 is just incredible,” said High School Principal Tiffany Scullion. “I think that 364th place for us ends up putting us in the top 1.5%. I think it’s a good testament to to our students and our parents and our staff. We’re just fortunate that we have such academically focused parents in our area and students who want to take difficult courses and advance their knowledge.”

Scullion also complimented the staff, saying “their willingness to push our students and stay up to date with the content and the knowledge, that’s definitely a huge part of it.”

From there, the list was determined in part by looking at what percentage of students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses took ones related to math and science. That accounts for 75% of the score. The rest came from how many earned a qualifying score of 3 or better, as judged by test data for 2022 graduates.

The math and science scores were indexed separately, then added to create a composite. Schools that scored 71.8 or higher received a numerical rank. 

Houghton High School offers calculus AB, as well as biology and chemistry classes in person. 

For the science and math classes, the school typically offers two sections with about 20 students in each, Scullion said. 

Another calculus course and an environmental science class are also offered for students online.

This year, the school also offered AP Computer Science A. 

“Our size sometimes benefits us when it comes to classes like this,” she said. “It’s maybe difficult to run a class with one or two people in it. For us to have a computer science class with 10 people in it is enough for us to say this is a go for our school.”