One New Jersey charter school is among the top 100 high schools in the nation, and another dozen local charter schools rank in the top 1,200, according to the latest rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

Central Jersey College Prep, a public charter school based in Somerset, ranked as the highest-performing charter high school in the state. It was 93rd on U.S. News & World Report’s list of the nation’s top high schools. (See the full list of New Jersey charter schools that made the list below.)

Charter schools are free public schools, but they operate independently from local school boards and offer families additional choices beyond the schools in their local districts. Some offer a lottery to get in because of high demand.