One of the Best in the Nation

Across the nation, 279 public schools and 49 other private schools were named during 2016. (There are almost 31,000 private schools in the nation!)

While the Department of Education nominates public schools, private schools can only be nominated by CAPE (Council for American Education), a think tank in Washington, D.C. that provides support and resources for independent schools.

Central applied for status as Exemplary High Performing—among the top schools in a state—and was awarded as such. Schools may opt to apply for Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing instead—schools honored in this category are making the fastest progress in their state in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.