Bexley High School named second-best public school in Ohio

Ohio's top public high school is Cincinnati's Walnut Hills, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual high school rankings , released last week.

Why it matters: Walnut Hills eclipsed Bexley High School, which claimed the top spot last year.

Driving the news: U.S. News & World Report ranked nearly 18,000 public schools nationwide. Nearly 9% of Ohio's public schools are ranked among the top 10% nationwide.

• Schools were measured in the areas of student college readiness, proficiency on state assessments, the breadth of college-level curriculum, and the performance of historically underserved populations.

Zoom in: Bexley is the top performing school in the region, ranking No. 2 among Ohio's public schools.

• Dublin Jerome (10th), Olentangy Liberty (11th), Olentangy (14th), Columbus Alternative (16th), Grandview Heights (19th), Upper Arlington (21st) and Granville (23rd) are other area schools in the state's top 25.