Jefferson County's International Baccalaureate School (JCIB) is back up to No.3 on this year's Top High Schools list according to the list compiled by Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post.

From 2004 to 2007, the school consistently placed in the top five on Newsweek's list, but was excluded last year because it and 16 other U.S. public high schools instead went on a list of "Public Elite" magnet schools.  Before that, however, the school ranked fourth in 2007, second in 2006 and was declared first in 2005 with a photograph of one of the students on the cover of Newsweek.

According to Newsweek's Web site, these top-ranked schools in the Newsweek report did the best job of preparing average students for college.  The list is created by calculating the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Cambridge tests taken by all students in the school this year, divided by the size of the senior class.  To make the list, that ratio has to be 1.0 or higher.  AP, IB or Cambridge courses and tests are college-level work with heavy reading and long, analytical examinations.

Eight other high schools in Alabama made the list of these 1500 best U.S. high schools, but their numbers began at the 75th placement of the schools listed.