Montgomery County Public Schools, including several in the Bethesda area, are among the top in the nation, according to the national High School Challenge rankings, released Friday by the Washington Post.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School ranks first in the state in preparing students for college work, according to the rankings.

B-CC ranks No. 59 on the national list, while Richard Montgomery High School is ranked No. 65, Poolesville High School is ranked No. 69, Walter Johnson High School is ranked No. 82 and Winston Churchill High School is ranked No. 98. All of the county's high schools rank among the top 1,000 high schools nationwide, according to a Montgomery County Public Schools press release.

In the Washington region, B-CC and WJ ranked in the top 10 schools, and Walt Whitman High School ranked in the top 20. In Maryland, along with B-CC's top ranking, WJ and Whitman both ranked in the top ten.

“I am proud of the outstanding performance of our students and schools on the High School Challenge,” said Jerry D. Weast, Montgomery County's superintendent of schools, in the press release. “These results reflect the continuing commitment of the (county's) Board of Education to providing all students with access to college-level work so that they are better prepared for college and the workforce.”

Washington Post reporter Jay Mathews came up with the Challenge Index 14 years ago to rank high schools on their ability to prepare students for college. The ranking formula divides the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors, according to the press release.