“U.S. News and World Report” released their list of the 10 Best Public Schools in the U.S. today.
Did a school in your state make this list?

10. Academic Magnet High School – North Charleston, South Carolina

This school’s tagline is “Seriously smart.” and for good reason. The school only offers honors and
advanced placement courses. Students are required to complete and present a senior thesis.
Admission to the school requires taking the ACT’s Explore Test and submitting a writing sample.

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9. International School – Bellevue, Washington

This school’s curriculum starts in the 6th grade. Students are required to take 7 years of international
studies and math. They must also study foreign language – French or German. And take a “Focus Week”
of outside classroom study that includes backpacking trips or the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, OR.

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8. Biotechnology High School – Freehold, New Jersey

Study at this school focuses on project-based learning with students required to complete an internship at
Rutgers University or a private company. Students can take International Baccalaureate classes that are
typically only available at colleges. Of the Top Ten Schools, this one has the lowest student to teacher ratio (13:1).

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7. Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School – Birmingham, Alabama

THE highest ranked magnet school in the U.S. with more than half of the school’s students being minorities.
For admission, students must have a 3.0GPA or higher, have completed Algebra 1, and “indicate aptitude and
preparation to complete a high level academic curriculum successfully” with their standardized test scores.

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6. Pine View School – Osprey, Florida

A rigorous curriculum that emphasizes the importance of letting students work at their own pace,
this school for gifted children has 2,200 students. 1/5 of those are minority students.

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5. BASIS Scottsdale — Scottsdale, Arizona

This school offers a number of AP classes and teaches an accelerated curriculum that allows students
to graduate in 3 years. Students can choose a fourth year to do a special senior project that includes a
“real world” internship. The school also has a blog that follows the students as they work on these projects.

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4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology – Alexandria, Virginia

This school features THE most advanced science labs in America. The school requires its
students take 5 years of math and computer science. The school also has some of the highest
test scores in the nation, with their students, on average, taking more than seven AP tests.

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3. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology – Lawrenceville, Georgia

This STEM-certified school uses a lottery to determine admission. Every student is given a laptop and is
required to take a minimum of four engineering and 3 AP courses to graduate. Internship coordinators
help students get work experience. The only foreign language taught is Spanish and Mandarin.
The school continues to grow with 100 new students added to the last 2 freshman classes each year.

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2. BASIS Tucson – Tucson, Arizona

The second BASIS school to make the list, this school follows the same accelerated program as the other
BASIS schools. BASIS Tuscon has 670 students with almost half of those being minorities.

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1. School for the Talented and Gifted – Dallas, Texas

260 students. 58% minority enrollment. 30% from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Getting into this public school is not easy. Next year, students in the Dallas school district will have
to compete for the school’s coveted 65 open spots. The school sets an extremely high bar for students,
requiring them to take a minimum of 11 AP classes during their high school careers.

There you have it! The 10 Best Public Schools in America.
Click here to see the complete list on the U.S. News and World Report website.

To French artist, Thomas Lamadieu, the sky’s the limit.
Literally.

Lamadieu (aka Roots Art) stands in the middle of France’s historical streets and
takes photographs in the direction of the sky. He then uses the odd shapes created
where the buildings meet the sky in those photos as a canvas for his drawings.

Original.

Playful.

Celebratory.

To Thomas Lamadieu, things are always looking up.

To see more of his original Sky Art, click here.

Cartoon Network has created the on-going campaign, STOP BULLYING: SPEAK UP, to education
students, teachers and parents on the effects of bullying and what can be done to prevent it.

This Sunday (April 28 at 5:30/4:30C), Cartoon Network presents “The Bully Effect”, the true story
of Alex Libby. a student was seriously bullied and the good that happened when someone spoke up.
During this time, you can also Live Chat online with expert Rosalind Wiseman.

If you don’t see the program, you can still visit Cartoon Network’s website and earn badges,watch videos,
take the pledge, and print a flag you can display in your room, at school, or anywhere to show your support.

There’s also a section with checklists, tip sheets, suggested reading, and more for educators and parents.

Join Cartoon Network in their fight to stop bullying! Click here to find out how.

Coursera is an online education provider who made headlines last week
for signing on 29 more schools to their open, online courses called MOOCs,
nearly DOUBLING the number of schools offering instruction.

Today, we bring them to your attention because of
the new course they started offering this morning…

UNDERWATER BASKETWEAVING!

Now if you’re like me, or anyone else who’s ever attended school,
Underwater Basketweaving was  ALWAYS a class you hoped would show up
on your course curriculum. Read Coursera’s class description below:

Click here if you want to watch the course’s FOOLish promotional video on their website.

Dr. Chris Emdin of Columbia University’s Teachers College felt that New York City
public school kids could use a little mentoring for science. But instead of calling on
Bill Nye the Science Guy he called upon the skills of Wu Tang Clan’s GZA (Gary Grice).

The goal of this pilot program is to make children more aware of science and everything
connected to it via the power of Rap. Check out this 9-minute segment that aired on PBS.