For the first time, Oak Harbor High School was rated in the top third of public schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report, earning the organization’s bronze medal.

The news company annually ranks more than 21,500 public schools after taking into consideration state proficiency test results, graduation rates and how well students are prepared for college-level work.

The complete rankings are available online at usnews.com. They include data for each school such as enrollment, student ethnicity, location, school type, the results of state assessments and advanced placement tests.

“This is a reflection of our efforts across the district,” said Superintendent Lance Gibbon. “We’ve got a high school team building an exemplary program.”

To produce the Best High School rankings, U.S. News teamed up with RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm. RTI implemented the rankings methodology, which is based on key principles: that a great high school must serve all of its students well, not just those who are college bound, and that it must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes to show it is successfully educating its student body across a range of performance indicators.

A number of factors helped push Oak Harbor up in the rankings, including strong results on state assessments and better graduation rates.

In 2012, three-quarters of Oak Harbor High School students graduated on time.

Last year the on-time graduation rate rose to 85 percent — which exceeds virtually every school district in the area.

The state average is 78 percent. And 92 percent of Oak Harbor students graduated, but some took more time.

The voter-approved levy in 2013 allowed the district to pay for services that improved graduation rates and programs for students as a whole, Gibbon said.

The levy, for example, allowed the district to offer more advancement placement courses.

“The recognition and success our schools and students have enjoyed is made possible by having an incredibly skilled, hard-working and dedicated teaching staff,” he said.

“We have some of the finest teachers and staff in the state here in Oak Harbor and I am grateful and proud of all they have done and do every day for our students.”