These Kids Go to the Best Public High School in Houston

"My older brother. He's not looking to the future," Antwonette says. "His high school isn't really preparing him for college. But he sees how I'm flourishing in my education, so maybe I can influence him."

4. Memorial High School (Spring Branch ISD)

• Total Enrollment: 2,225
• TEA Self-Reported Graduation Rate: 94.1 percent
• Freshman-Senior Graduation Rate: 81 percent
• Average SAT Score: 1165 (out of 1600)
• Economically Disadvantaged: 10.7 percent
• Demographic Breakdown:
1.5 percent African-American
11.7 percent Asian
14.1 percent Hispanic
72.6 percent white

In addition to a full boat of classes, including three advanced-placement courses, Justin Karnes participates in the Memorial High School band, musical theater program and chess club.

"It's like trying to juggle while riding a unicycle," says the garrulous 18-year-old senior.

Justin's class rank falls just below the top quarter of students. Despite heroic efforts, he fears this statistic will result in rejection letters from his top college picks: Stanford University and the University of Virginia.

"The competition in our school is very intense," Justin says. "Sometimes the pressure is too much; it can be overwhelming.

"My freshman year I kind of slacked off," he continues dreamily. "I've been trying to make up for it ever since."

Memorial consistently produces the highest SAT scores in Spring Branch ISD, graduates multiple valedictorians and turns out an unusually high rate of scholar-athletes. Defying the dumb-jock stereotype, four varsity football players are in the top 5 percent of this year's senior class.

The school ranked 133 in Newsweek's May 2005 report of the country's best high schools. "The publicity from the article built confidence for people who may think private schools are better," says four-year principal Stephen Shorter.

But families in the area, located ten miles west of downtown Houston, don't need a magazine to validate what they already know. Many students' parents who graduated from Memorial returned to the area to ensure their children receive a similarly top-notch education.

"Most of our parents, they're professionals," Shorter says. "They're doctors and CEOs of companies and bankers and lawyers."

Celebrity alumni include computer entrepreneur Michael Dell and local TV broadcaster Dominique Sachse. Pitching ace Roger Clemens sends his kids to Memorial.

The school at last has a building to match the quality of its programs. Last January wrapped up a two-year, $16 million renovation of the school, which now includes a state-of-the-art auditorium, black-box theater and new gymnasium.

At Memorial, Shorter says, it's the school's job to fulfill the expectation for excellence that begins at home:

"Our recipe for success is built into the culture of the community."

5. Clements High School (Fort Bend ISD)

• Total Enrollment: 2,308
• TEA Self-Reported Graduation Rate: 95.8 percent
• Freshman-Senior Graduation Rate: 89 percent
• Average SAT Score: 1161 (out of 1600)
• Economically Disadvantaged: 2.6 percent
• Demographic Breakdown:
3.6 percent African-American
38.6 percent Asian
5.1 percent Hispanic
52.5 percent white

The four hours Priya Gandhi spends each week shadowing doctors in a hospital emergency room are thrilling, nerve-racking, emotionally draining and addictive.

She's witnessed shooting victims, failed suicide attempts and raving psychotics, all while hungrily absorbing the lingo employed by nurses. "Code blue," she knows, stands for heart attack or cardiac arrest. "BS patients" is how they refer to the uninsured, who use the ER as if it were their family practitioner's office.

The 17-year-old senior at Clements High School in Sugar Land hangs out in the ER each week as part of her Scientific Research and Design class, an exclusive and highly coveted course that requires students to pass an admissions test to enroll.

It's the student's responsibility to select and recruit a mentor, who doesn't always agree to participate. And that's just part of the real-life lesson the class intends to impart.

"The students have to go out and knock on doors and talk to medical professionals," 31-year veteran teacher Doug Ronnenkamp says. "For some, it's the first time they have to deal with rejection."

It's helped Priya, an aspiring premed student, to discern a career path. Before taking the class, she wanted to work in a medical clinic. But that sort of environment may be too tame for her. She prefers the manic energy of the ER.

"This class is one of the best things that's ever happened to me," she says. "It's given me experience in the medical field. And I've learned a lot about life itself."

Clements boasts a well-deserved reputation for stellar academics. The teachers are experts in their fields: More than 40 percent of faculty members hold advanced degrees. Students score off the charts on statewide tests and choose from 26 advanced-placement courses ranging from macroeconomics to European history to studio art 3-D design.

Last year the school produced 17 National Merit Society finalists. Nearly all Clements students pursue postsecondary education in two- or four-year universities.