Central High No. 15 on influencer listing

The Little Rock School District’s Central High School is No. 15 on a list of the nation’s 50 most influential public high schools, according to Academic Influence, an advertiser-funded organization that has created a technology to measure the achievement or impact of institutions.

“We rank schools based on the influencers associated with them, with both faculty and alumni considered,” the introduction to the public high school list states. “We gauge influence and map the relevant connections between people and institutions by considering not only the number of citations and web mentions, but the authority of entities making the citations.”

The Central High listing notes that the school’s role in the nation’s civil-rights history, its designation as a National Historic Site and its recognition at one time as the nation’s most beautiful school by the American Institute of Architects. Also noted are the 35 Advanced Placement classes and five foreign languages offered at the school, its 12 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in 2020 and a 77% rate for admissions to two- and four-year colleges.

As it did for all 50 schools, the list includes “most influential alumni” for Central. The 20 listed for Central included actors George Newbern and Ben Piazza; athletes Brooks Robinson, Joe Johnson and Drew Smyly; and Little Rock Nine member Carlotta Walls LaNier and Jefferson Thomas.

Stuyvesant High School in New York City received the top rating.

The list can be found at https://bit.ly/2RhoYix.