& World Report 2012 national ranking was called into question when it seemed the ranking was significantly deflated when U.S. News calculated Pine View's 8th grade students as high school students who did not participate in Advanced Placement courses (a significant factor in its methodology) and incorrectly factored Pine View's AP pass rate. In 2019 Pine View School was ranked No. 15 in National Rankings, No. 8 in Magnet High Schools and No. 23 in STEM High Schools. State rankings In 2012, the Florida Department of Education ranked Pine View as the best Florida school that combined high school students with other grade levels. The ranking was produced by crunching state and national test data. In the same year, Pine View was ranked by Newsweek as the 4th best high school in Florida. U.S. News & World Report ranked Pine View the best high school in Florida, based on its 2013 national ranking. In 2009, Pine View was rated America's Best High School for Florida by Business Week. Admission requirements As a full-time gifted program, Pine View maintains selective entrance requirements. Students may be referred for admission by administrators, teachers, staff members, or parents. Prospective students are admitted based on the gifted identification standards that are required by the Florida Department of Education. Since other Sarasota County district schools house gifted programs, an important part of admission is considering if Pine View's program best meets the student's educational needs. At Pine View, students must enroll at the beginning of each school year. Other district gifted programs enroll students during the school year. Curriculum Pine View's curriculum emphasizes rigor, differentiated instruction, and, in high school, students' academic self-determination. In elementary and middle school, students take classes that are accelerated and go more in-depth than topically similar courses at other schools. Students begin to rotate teachers and classrooms beginning in 4th grade. Starting in 6th grade, students are placed in different levels in math based on a standardized test administered at the end of 5th grade. Students can begin to choose some of their course load beginning in 7th grade and continuing throughout high school. At the beginning of high school, students create their own individual four-year academic plans, which they refine and revise as the years progress. This differentiated instruction results in a variety of math, English, science, social science, and foreign language levels being offered to students in the same