CENTRAL — Daniel High School is among 22 in South Carolina to recently be named by Newsweek magazine in its Challenge Index, an annual ranking of the top 1,500 public high schools in the nation for 2009.

The index listed Daniel at 1294th — above Hillcrest High in Simpsonville (1307) and Beaufort High School (1372) — while Charleston County’s Academic Magnet was the state’s top-rated high school at 12th nationally. The rankings are based on rigorous course offerings and how all students perform in those courses.

Daniel High Principal Sharon Huff was on vacation and unavailable for comment, but Pickens County School Superintendent Henry Hunt said the district was pleased to see the school included in this year’s Challenge Index.

“To be in the top five percent of America’s public high schools is quite an honor,” Hunt said. “I’m pleased that the school continues to be recognized for its academic rigor and accomplishments.”

The formula used by Newsweek ranks schools according to a ratio that examines the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and similar college-credit tests taken by all students at the school and divides that by the number of graduating seniors from the previous year. Newsweek surveyed more than 27,000 high schools in the U.S., and schools that had an average SAT score topping 1950 or an AP score of 29 or higher were not listed.

Last year, South Carolina had 21 high schools included in Newsweek’s Challenge Index as opposed to 16 in 2007. However, in 2006, approximately 23 South Carolina public high schools were listed in the index.