Alameda Community Learning Center (ACLC) and the Alameda Science and Technology Institute (AST1) received some welcome news this week: U.S. News and World Report has named the schools among the best in the nation.

Every year, the magazine ranks 21,786 high schools on how well they perform on three levels. The report factors in performance on state testing, the percentage of economically disadvantaged learners doing better than expected on those state tests and how well each school prepares its pupils for college.

College-preparation scores are based on how well the schools' students score in advanced placement or international baccalaureate tests, whichever one is more prevalent at the school.

Gold-medal schools had students score the highest in the tests. Gold medallists are considered to be among the top 100 high schools in the nation; silver medallists, the next 461 high schools on the list, also scored highly on the tests. Those in the bronze category, a category with 1,189 high schools, met the criteria for the first two steps but not the third — how well the schools have prepared students for college.

Alameda Community Learning Center received a bronze medal. Founded in 1996, ACLC allows students (learners as they are called) increased flexibility in both their course schedule and curriculum. Unlike traditional schools, the learners at the center don't take the same classes everyday, nor do they have lessons every hour, instead having free periods to work on their homework and other school related activities. As result of the freedom, students are taught to manage their time and to take an active role in the operation of the school.

ACLC allows students to take classes at Alameda College, but it does not offer AP courses, making it ineligible for either a Gold or Silver medal. It is the center's third year receiving the Bronze medal. Lynn Kameny, ACLC's Lead Facilitator said of the honor, "I feel proud of our school for its achievements over the years and I am happy to see us recognized by a national publication because we have a unique 21st century educational model."

ASTI also received a bronze medal, its first year doing so in its six-year existence. According to its Web site, ASTI is public magnet school that primarily targets students that are "traditionally underrepresented in the areas of socioeconomic level, home language, first generation college goers and ethnicity."

Students are worked hard during their first two years at the school so that during their junior and senior years they can simultaneously enroll in both high school and the College of Alameda. As a result of joint enrollment, by the time ASTI students graduate, they will have received a high school diploma and at least a year's worth of college credit.

Principal Steven Fong told the Sun that because of ASTI's relative youth as a school and its enrollment demographic, "For us to be considered to be up there with some of the better schools in the state and Alameda County is a really good feeling."