A well-respected national magazine has selected 6-local highs schools as some of the best in the nation.

The U.S. News & World Report has issued its 2010 list of Americas Best High Schools. The survey analyzed almost 22,000 public high schools in 48 states and the District of Columbia, using a three-step process. The first two steps ensured the schools serve all their students well, using state proficiency standards as the benchmarks, in Florida’s case that's the F-CAT. If the schools made it past the first two steps, the third step assessed how well the schools prepare their students for college-level work.

The top schools were placed into gold, silver, bronze, or honorable mention categories. All of the schools that made the list from our area were "bronze schools. From Holmes County: Holmes County High School in Bonifay and Ponce de Leon School made the grade. In Jackson County, Graceville High School and Malone High School both scored a bronze, in Okaloosa County: Baker High School and Laurel Hill School made the list.