Beach schools among top 10 in large cities

VIRGINIA BEACH

The city's public schools have been named among the top 10 large city school divisions by GreatSchools, which runs a website that collects information on public and private schools to encourage parent choice.

They ranked public schools in U.S. cities with below-average unemployment rates based on test scores. Virginia Beach ranked fifth on their top-10 list for cities with populations over 300,000.

The No. 5 ranking for Virginia Beach described the division this way:

"With rising SAT scores, AP tests above the national average, state awards for excellence for most of its schools, and more than 84% of its students planning higher education, Virginia Beach City Public Schools is focused on high performance."

The Wake County Public School System in Raleigh, N.C., ranked first.