Gwinnett County has more students than any other school district in Georgia, but it didn't have the most schools on Gov. Nathan Deal's new list of the 187 best.

Thirteen Gwinnett schools made the list of highest performing schools or schools with the greatest gains. The city of Buford, inside the county, had two more. That compares with 21 in Cobb and 23 in Fulton, both smaller districts.

The results are based on the state’s College and Career Ready Performance Index. The highest performers were those that ranked at or above the 93rd percentile for their “achievement” score, while the greatest gainers ranked that way on their “progress” score, in each case based on an average over three years.

Here are the schools and the categories in which they excelled:

Buford High School — gains

Buford Middle School — gains

Arcado Elementary School —gains

Brookwood Elementary School — performance

Brookwood High School Bronze —performance

Frank N. Osborne Middle School — both

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology — both

Mulberry Elementary School — performance

North Gwinnett High School — performance

North Gwinnett Middle School— both

Puckett’s Mill Elementary School — performance

Riverside Elementary School — performance

Roberts Elementary School — performance

Simpson Elementary School — both

Twin Rivers Middle School — both

Nearly half the state's top-ranked schools are in core metro Atlanta school districts. Read about more them here.