![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
West Linn was awarded the silver medal by the U.S. News and World Report in its yearly release of the “Best High Schools in America” list. West Linn was ranked 656th in the nation and eighth in Oregon.
The first 500 schools receive the gold medal and the next 1,500 receiving silver. There were 22,000 schools, from across the nation, considered for this list.
A three-step process is used to determine the rank of each individual high school.
1. A school’s student body is assessed to determine if it is performing better than statistically expected for the average student in each state.
2. They look at the schools least-advantaged students and decide whether or not they are exceeding expectations.
3. Finally they ascertain how effectively the high school is preparing the student body for college. They do so by taking a look at how many seniors take and pass Advanced Placement tests.
