Arizona’s public schools don’t have the greatest reputation . Collectively, they rank 49th in the nation in per-pupil spending and 47th in dropout rate. But that doesn’t mean great schools aren’t out there.

Several public schools around the Valley buck the state’s trend, with high graduation rates and many Advanced Placement courses on offer.

U.S. News and World Report ranks the top schools in the state and the country. The publication ranked nearly 18,000 schools in every state and Washington, D.C., factoring in how well schools prepare students for college through AP or International Baccalaureate exams, state test scores, the proportion of students who took advanced classes and graduation rates.

While no Arizona schools cracked the national top 100, several Valley public schools f

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