Houston Press determines top schools in the city

The Houston Press and the non-profit advocacy group Children At Risk took on the painstaking task of ranking 116 public high schools in Harris and Fort Bend counties plus Friendswood and Pearland.

The Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions in the Houston ISD was chosen the area's best high school. The Houston Press reports, "It produces studious, high-achieving, self-assured brainiacs. The student body is a model of diversity: half the kids come from poor families, and students are evenly divided among African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics."

According to this chart , the school also receives perfect marks in reading, math, science, social studies, recreation, SAT results and innovation. The fact that they also seem to educate adorably nerdy-looking students is merely implied.

Houstonist applauds the Houston Press for giving props to schools in an era when the Texas education system is in danger of even more budget cuts. Here is the rest of the list.