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Five local high schools are praised in the upcoming issue of U.S. News & World Report, with two ranked among the top 20 in the nation.

The magazine's first annual list of American's top public high schools ranks University High School as 13th and BASIS Charter School as 16th.

University High is on the campus of Rincon High School, 421 N. Arcadia Ave., and has an academic program geared toward college preparation. BASIS, 3434 E. Broadway, also gears students toward college and consistently receives high marks.

Both schools have been on Newsweek magazine's lists of the nation's top public high schools. BASIS has been ranked sixth and third in Newsweek's past two lists, respectively. The magazine places University High in a separate category but also lauds its work.

University High Principal Rosy Beetcher learned of the ranking Thursday in a letter from U.S. News & World Report Editor Brian Kelly.

"It's so amazing," she said. "This is such a wonderful place to be."

Northland Preparatory Academy in Flagstaff was the only other Arizona school in the top 100, at 56th.

The other Tucson-area schools honored by the magazine are Catalina Foothills High School, Sonoran Science Academy and Vision Charter School. Catalina Foothills received a silver medal and the other schools were given bronze. Patagonia Union High School, in Santa Cruz County, was given a bronze medal, too.

Schools were ranked primarily on three factors: achievement levels on state accountability tests for all students in reading and math, achievement on state tests for the school's "least advantaged" students, and college-readiness as measured by student performance in Advanced Placement tests.

The study took a couple of months, said Paul Gazzerro, director of analytical criteria for Standard & Poors, an international credit-rating agency that helped the magazine come up with the rankings.

Beetcher said she's excited about the latest accolade but it doesn't change the day-to-day at University High.

"We're not into the competition. We do what we do on a daily basis," she said. "The everyday commitment to the school and the individual is what makes the difference."

The three elements that make University High such a recognized school, Beetcher said, are students, teachers and parents.

"Whether I am in classrooms, at student activities, parent conferences or staff meetings, I continue to be impressed with the caliber of effort you put forth on a daily basis to shape the reputation University High enjoys," she wrote in a letter to parents, students and staff. "This does not happen as a result of being 'lucky' or 'anointed' in some way — it is a result of hard work and a commitment to the school and to each other."

Most of the schools on the list — 51 percent — are in California, New York and Texas. The top school in the nation was Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Va.