Each year, NEWSWEEK picks the best high schools in the country based on how hard school staffs work to challenge students with advanced-placement college-level courses and tests. Just over 1.600 schools—only 6 percent of all the public schools in the U.S.—made the list. The Academic Magnet School in North Charleston (AMHS) placed 12th in the country.

AMHS is known for their exceptionally high SAT scores. Like many of the schools on our top 20, AMHS helps prepare students for the college/university experience by mandating that they fulfill a 90-hour service requirement in addition to completing at least four advanced placement (AP) courses throughout high school.  Way to GO AMHS!!

Fifteen additional South Carolina schools made the 2010 list.

-courtesy of Newsweek.com