New York, NY (May 30, 2008): U.S. News & World Report has named five Gilder Lehrman high schools among the top high schools in the country in its recently updated Best High Schools list. They are the Academy of American Studies in Queens, New York, the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, New York, Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama.

Gilder Lehrman history schools are rigorous, college-preparatory schools centered on American history. They have a track record of raising test scores and sending more than ninety percent of graduating seniors to college. At the core of these schools is a four-year sequence of courses in American history.

The Academy of American Studies is the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s flagship school, founded in 1996 as a partnership between the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and New York City’s Department of Education. The High School of American Studies was founded in 2002 in collaboration with the City University of New York, Lehman College, New York City’s Department of Education, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute. Eleanor Roosevelt High School is part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s history network in Maryland. Brooklyn Technical and Bob Jones recently became Gilder Lehrman affiliate schools, which are connected to the Institute’s nationwide network of teachers, students, and prominent historians and have access to the Institute’s rich offerings of educational materials and programs.

U.S. News awarded gold medals to Brooklyn Technical High School and to the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, putting them in the top one hundred high schools in the nation. The Academy of American Studies, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, and Bob Jones High School earned silver medals in the U.S. News rankings, placing them in the top 500 high schools in the nation.

"We are extremely gratified to be recognized for the accomplishments of our students, teachers, and parents,” said Alessandro Weiss, principal of the High School of American Studies. “We know that our partners, the Gilder Lehrman Institute and Lehman College, have been indispensible in helping us to instill in our students a love for learning and intellectual inquiry."

The magazine analyzed academic and enrollment data for more than 18,000 public high schools and based the rankings on a variety of factors, including state proficiency standards and college readiness. To view all the rankings, visit http://www.usnews.com/sections/education/high-schools/.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public. It helps create history-centered schools, organizes seminars and programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, sponsors lectures by eminent historians, and administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state through its partnership with Preserve America. The Institute also conducts awards including the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Book Prizes, and offers fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman. The Institute maintains two websites, www.gilderlehrman.org and the quarterly online journal www.historynow.org.

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The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
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www.gilderlehrman.org