This year, three local schools cracked the top 25 on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best high schools in Kentucky, with Glasgow High School placing sixth, Franklin-Simpson High School in 13th and South Warren High School coming in 24th.

According to GHS Principal Keith Hale, the school has been on the list before, placing eighth on the list in 2015.

“A lot of it is tradition and work ethic from students and staff,” he said. “They take a lot of pride in our school doing so well and they want to see that tradition continue.”

Hale said the school’s involvement with Advanced Placement classes and Advance Kentucky, a group that works to expand college-level coursework in high schools, led to the school being placed sixth.

According to Lorie Bunch, a guidance counselor at GHS, the AP classes students are interested in extend well beyond English and math, with about 70 percent of juniors taking an AP language class and 65 percent taking AP biology.

Advance Kentucky’s efforts to expand AP involvement in the school has been a success due to widespread student interest, she said. “The climate is here. The environment is here. The students want to succeed,” she said.

U.S. News said Glasgow High has a 93 percent graduation rate and a 76 percent AP participation rate.

Frankin-Simpson High School has a 95 percent graduation rate and a 50 percent AP participation rate.

South Warren has a graduation rate of 93 percent and an AP participation rate of 38 percent, according to U.S. News.

Rob Clayton, Warren County Public Schools superintendent, said he suspects South Warren got to the 24 slot on the list mainly because of a criterion that takes how schools meet the needs of disadvantaged students into account.

“That’s a big thing we focus on in the schools,” he said. “If you don’t track that, you’re really only paying attention to the higher performing students.”

To help narrow the achievement gap between students from different backgrounds, the district uses an academic monitoring system with four checkpoints throughout the year to make sure students are meeting expectations, Clayton said, providing assistance when students are struggling.

“The key is not just monitoring a student’s progress but providing assistance, intervention,” he said.

Clayton said he doesn’t remember a time any school in Warren County Public Schools made the list.

According to U.S. News’ webpage, the group uses a four-step process to determine its rankings, taking into account how a school’s students perform in reading and math proficiency compared to the state average, as well as how each school’s disadvantaged students the group identifies as black, Hispanic and low-income, fare in the same areas compared to the state average for disadvantaged students.

This year, the group added a new criterion, taking graduation rate into account.

Clayton said he isn’t sure why South Warren was placed on the list when none of the district’s other schools were. “I wouldn’t say we’re doing anything unique at South Warren,” he said.

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.

— Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its original publication to include Franklin-Simpson High School’s placement in the rankings.