1. education
2. high school

The 50 smartest public high
schools in the US
MELISSA STANGER
APR. 2, 2015, 12:05 PM
Some people believe
that the best highschool educations
come from private
schools, but that
couldn't be further
from the truth.
Public schools can
provide first-class
global educations
that prepare students
for college and
successful careers.
The experts at college
Via Flickr
data website Niche
put together a list of
the smartest public
high schools in the US based primarily on state-assessment proficiency, the colleges that
students go on to, AP enrollment and exam pass rates, graduation rates, and composite
ACT and SAT scores.
Because there isn't a good 1-to-1 ratio for ACT to SAT score comparison, the SAT
composite scores are expressed here as a range. You can read more about Niche's
methodology here.
50. Pine View School – Osprey, Florida
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Pine View is a school for the
gifted. Like other high schools,
Pine View offers the standard
state-required subjects that all
students learn, but Pine View
also gives students a unique
intellectual experience with
options for self-pacing,
independent study, and electives
in subjects such as women's
studies and history of the
Vietnam War.
Facebook/PineViewAlumni
49. Poolesville High School – Poolesville, Maryland
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Poolesville High School has
been ranked as the No. 1 high
school in the tristate area of
Maryland, Virginia, and DC for
the past three years running.
The magnet school excels in its
strong STEM programming and
an AP course offering of 25plus classes.
Facebook/poolesvillefalcons
48. Campolindo High School – Moraga, California
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Students at Campolindo High
School receive exposure to an
academic core and a wellbalanced smattering of arts and
technical classes. The school is
often frequented by a number of
in-state and out-of-state college
recruiters, including Yale and
the US Military Academy at
West Point.
Facebook/CampoMusical
47. Academic Magnet High School – North Charleston,
South Carolina
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Academic Magnet is ranked No.
1 in the state by U.S. News &
World Report. All courses are
honors or Advanced Placement,
and all students at the school
complete a yearlong
independent research project,
which sometimes gets published
in academic or professional
journals.
Academic Magnet High School
46. Deerfield High School – Deerfield, Illinois
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Deerfield High School once
served as the landing pad for
President Reagan's helicopter.
Ninety-seven percent of
graduates from the class of 2014
went on to attend two- or fouryear colleges with a background
of college-prep and AP courses.
The average GPA for students
in the class of 2015 is 3.50.
Facebook/Deerfield-High-School
45. Dover-Sherborn Regional High School – Dover,
Massachusetts
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Dover-Sherborn Regional High
School offers more than 100
courses a year. A unique
educational opportunity
available for DSHS students is
the option of participating in an
exchange program with
Hangzhou High School in
China. Students spend eight
weeks living with a host family
and immersing themselves in
language and culture.
Google Earth
44. Dougherty Valley High School – San Ramon,
California
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Dougherty Valley High School
offers a variety of college-prep
classes, including 22 Advanced
Placement courses and nine
honors courses. Students are
well prepared for exams, too,
with 92% of students scoring
three or higher on AP exams.
Wikipedia
43. Los Altos High School – Los Altos, California
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Sixty percent of students are
involved in the AP curriculum.
The school has an extensive
college-readiness program. The
school encourages students who
aren't ready for college to get
involved in an enriching gapyear program; LAHS even hosts
a gap-year fair so students know
their options.
Wikipedia
42. School for the Talented & Gifted – Dallas, Texas
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
This school is the smallest on
our list but is rated the best
magnet school in the country
and the best public school in the
country by U.S. News. TAG, as
it's known, sends graduates to
some of the best colleges in the
world; in the last two years,
TAG alumni have been
accepted to six out of the eight
Ivy League schools and
Stanford, MIT, and Oxford, but
every student receives at least
one acceptance letter to a fouryear college or university.
TAG Magnet
41. Conestoga High School – Berwyn, Pennsylvania
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Conestoga High School was
home to 44 National Merit
Scholarship semifinalists and 39
National Merit commended
students last year. Conestoga
has a strong AP program, with
31 National AP Scholars for the
class of 2014. Another 25
students matriculated into Ivy
League schools.
Wikipedia
40. Highland Park High School – University Park, Texas
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Highland Park High School
counts a Texas governor, an
astronaut, and a first Tridentclass submarine commander
among its distinguished
graduates. The school employs
top teachers, with 76% of them
holding a master's degree or
higher. A whopping 47 courses
offered fall within the AP
curriculum.
Highland Park High School
39. Weston High School – Weston, Connecticut
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Weston High School is
considered the best public high
school in the state by U.S.
News. The school works with
the prestigious Teachers
College of Columbia University
on the Academic Innovation and
Measurement (AIM) program,
which gives students the
opportunity to reason in the
presence of problems such as
global and national issues,
scientific problems, and other
current events.
Wikipedia
38. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science &
Technology – Lawrenceville, Georgia
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
The Gwinnett School of
Mathematics, Science &
Technology, the No. 1 school in
Georgia, according to U.S.
News, is naturally renowned for
its STEM programming. One
hundred percent of students at
the charter school participate in
Advanced Placement classes.
GSMST partners with Lenovo
for access to some of the best
in-school technology facilities
available; there is a laptop for
every student.
YouTube/Virgil Shah
37. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School – Chicago
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Named for Civil Rights
Movement leader Whitney M.
Young, the school produces
some of the most decorated
academics in the state: Whitney
Young students took first place
in the state academic decathlon,
math team, and chess team
competitions in 2013. The
school is so proud of its teams
that go off to compete that it
throws pep rallies just for them!
Whitney M. Young Magnet High School
The Whitney M. Young Magnet High School chess
team pep rally
36. International School – Bellevue, Washington
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
A school for grades 7 through
12, International School aims to
make its students fluent in either
French or German by the time
they graduate through exchange
programs, hosting "language
interns," and other classes in the
language or culture. In March
students also participate in
"focus week," in which students
can take other classes outside
the school, go on trips, or learn
occupational skills to enrich
their education.
International School
35. Palos Verdes High School – Palos Verdes Estates,
California
SAT composite r ange: 18601910
PVHS is a relatively new high
school; it closed in 1991
because of declining enrollment,
and reopened in 2002, turning
itself into one of the best high
schools in America. The school
has a bring your own device
(BYOD) policy, enabling
students to use tablets, ereaders, laptops, or even
smartphones in class for taking
notes and looking up
information.
Instagram/@pvhs_seakings
34. University High School – Irvine, California
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
University High School serves
students in grades 9 through 12.
The home base for students
enrolled in the Orange County
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
program, "Uni" fully immerses
kids of all abilities in the same
curriculum. The school puts an
emphasis on critical thinking
and developing an ability to
strategically solve real-world
problems.
Wikipedia
33. Bronxville High School – Bronxville, New York
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Bronxville High School is
small but one of the top schools
in the suburbs of New York
City. About 98% of students go
on to attend four-year colleges
each year. Recognizing the
academic opportunity it affords
students in the area, BHS
accepts a handful of students
from outside the district on a
tuition basis.
Wikipedia
32. Langley High School – McLean, Virginia
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Langley High School has a
strict honor code that students
are obliged to adhere to.
LHS isn't far from Washington,
DC, where students are a short
bus ride from academic and
cultural experiences such as
museum tours and lessons in
government and politics.
Wikipedia
31. Redwood High School – Larkspur, California
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
The high school teaches a
number of specialty classes in
addition to the state-required
ones, like music performance
workshops, theater directing,
micro- and macroeconomics,
and advanced journalism, which
produces the school's highly
acclaimed newspaper, The
Bark. Redwood also hosts a
lunchtime series for students
called Career Conversations, in
which Redwood parents come
and present and answer
questions about their career
paths and what they do for a
living.
Wikipedia
30. Scarsdale High School – Scarsdale, New York
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Distinguished alumni of this
suburban high school include
actress Tovah Feldshuh,
producer Aaron Sorkin, and
playwright Eve Ensler, among
others. As one of the most
coveted public high schools in
Westchester County, Scarsdale
High School offers a number of
"Advanced Topics" courses
which, administered and rated
by the College Board, are more
challenging, college-level
courses.
Wikipedia
29. Millburn High School – Millburn, New Jersey
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
About 99% of graduating
seniors from Millburn High
School matriculate into fouryear colleges and universities.
New Jersey Monthly magazine
named MHS the best high
school in the state in 2008 and
2010. More than 30 AP classes
are available, as are collegelevel electives.
Jeremy Hochman/Vimeo
28. Raleigh Charter High School – Raleigh, North
Carolina
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
This charter school focuses on
small classes to facilitate more
individualized learning in
classrooms as well as hands-on
experiential learning that
incorporates doing and seeing
with simply reading and
listening. RCHS offers four
categories of higher-level
classes: standard, honors,
enriched honors, and Advanced
Placement.
Facebook/raleighcharter
27. International Community School – Kirkland,
Washington
SAT composite r ange: 20802130
This small school enrolls
students in grades 6 through 12;
the senior class has about 40
students. Naturally, the
application-based, tuition-free
International Community
School has an international
focus when it comes to
secondary education, including
foreign-language mastery,
world history and literature, and
trips overseas.
Wikipedia
The International Community School old building
26. Palo Alto High School – Palo Alto, California
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Many tech founders and Silicon
Valley greats live in Palo Alto,
so you could reasonably expect
to find some of their kids here.
More than 47% of the class of
2015 have unweighted GPAs of
3.6 or higher, and 54% of the
class of 2013 received a 5 (the
highest possible grade) on AP
exams.
Wikipedia
25. Rye High School – Rye, New York
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Another high school in affluent
Westchester County, Rye High
School gives students
opportunities to prepare for
college and the real world. This
year, the class of 2015 will be
the first senior class to
participate in the senior
internship/project, during which
students secure month-long
internships or apprenticeships in
their fields of interest and
present what they learned back
to their class at the end of the
project.
Flickr/amorimur
24. Glenbrook North High School – Northbrook, Illinois
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
Glenbrook North High School,
the "twin" to Glenbrook South
High School, teaches seven
language classes and 24 AP
courses. Certain exceptional
students from both Glenbrook
high schools attend the
Glenbrook Academy of
International Studies, a fouryear program that takes a more
progressive, global approach to
secondary education with an
emphasis on language,
literature, and history.
Google Earth
23. Jericho High School – Jericho, New York
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Out on Long Island, Jericho
High School offers business
classes such as accounting,
business law, and
entrepreneurship; technology
classes like architecture and
civil engineering, robotics, and
video production; and science
classes such as forensics,
mechanics, and anatomy and
physiology. Six members of the
class of 2014 were National
Merit Scholarship winners, and
89% of students were awarded
diplomas with distinction.
Google Earth
22. San Marino High School – San Marino, California
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
An overwhelming 72% of
students participate in the AP
curriculum at San Marino High
School. The tech-savvy school
has Apple TV hookups in each
classroom, and the campus is
completely wireless. San
Marino places as much
emphasis on developing
students as good citizens as it
does on developing them as
scholars, and gives students
grades in each subject based on
academics as well as
citizenship.
San Marino High School
21. Miramonte High School – Orinda, California
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Miramonte High School has
made it its mission to "provide a
high level of intellectual, social
and personal growth in each
individual." About 98% of
students attend college after
graduating. Miramonte believes
public speaking is a crucial skill
for high schoolers, and has
developed an extensive publicspeaking program, which
includes seven public-speaking
classes, two teachers, five
coaches, and more than 200
participating students.
Yelp user Errin S.
20. Troy High School – Fullerton, California
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Troy High School participates
in the International
Baccalaureate program — a
prestigious educational
program, similar to AP, that is
the school's most rigorous
offering. Troy High School has
one of the best STEM programs
in the country, and its computerscience program was named No.
1 in the world.
Yelp user Claire W.
19. Pacific Collegiate School – Santa Cruz, California
SAT composite r ange: 19201970
This charter school prepares
students for life in the 21st
century. Classes in modern
technology and foreign
languages and cultures are
mandatory, as is community
service. Though not a
requirement, 80% of students
who took AP courses also sat
for the corresponding AP
exams.
LocalWiki
18. Mission San Jose High School – Fremont, California
SAT composite r ange: 20802130
MSJHS celebrated its 50th
anniversary during the 20142015 school year. The school
has a 100% graduation rate,
with 80% of students on the
honor roll. More than 20 AP
courses are offered, on whose
exams 95.5% of students
receive scores of 3 or higher.
Wikipedia
17. Horace Greeley High School – Chappaqua, New
York
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
The Horace Greeley High
School class of 2014
matriculated into seven out of
the eight Ivy League schools.
Students at Horace Greeley can
choose between 18 AP courses,
as well as a number of specialty
online courses. These "online
courses for the 21st century"
range from "architecture across
the centuries" to "sports and
statistics" to "art as therapy."
LocalWiki
16. Corona del Mar High School – Newport, California
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
This upcoming fall, Corona del
Mar High School will debut
educational path called
Signature Academies. Run
through the Newport-Mesa
school district, the Signature
Academies at CdM High School
will give gifted applicants a
unique opportunity to craft their
own signature education in
either global studies or
performing arts and multimedia.
Wikipedia
15. Adlai E. Stevenson High School – Lincolnshire,
Illinois
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
The largest high school on the
list, with a student body of more
than 4,000 teenagers, Adlai E.
Stevenson High School offers a
rigorous curriculum. Students
must take eight semesters of
English; six each of math,
science, and social studies; and
other electives before
graduating. And 75% of
students enroll in AP courses.
Facebook/stevensonhs
14. Northside College Preparatory High School –
Chicago
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Northside College Preparatory
High School gives students the
quality of a private prep-school
education without the burden of
tuition. Most of the classes at
this selective public school are
honors or AP courses, and
students are required to take
computer science as well as a
college career-pathway course;
they also have the option of
studying abroad.
Northside Prep
13. Stuyvesant High School – New York City
SAT composite r ange: 21402210
Stuyvesant High School is a
magnet school, and one of the
most difficult to get into in New
York City. It has the secondhighest standardized test scores
in the state (first highest among
public schools) and fourthhighest in the country. Being
that most students finish their
state-imposed math
requirements by junior year,
Stuyvesant has an advanced
math partnership with New
York University in which
students can take college-level
math courses.
Via Flickr
12. Monta Vista High School – Cupertino, California
SAT composite r ange: 20802130
Monta Vista High School is
ranked No. 8 in the country by
U.S. News for its STEM
programming. Almost 100% of
graduates go on to attend
college every year; some of the
colleges attended by students
from the class of 2014 include
Stanford, Yale, Columbia, MIT,
Harvard, Princeton, and the US
Air Force Academy.
Wikipedia
11. New Trier Township High School – Winnetka, Illinois
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
New Trier has a number of
resources that give students
opportunities not just to succeed
but to thrive academically.
Tutoring is available from peers
and teachers, and, through the
level system, students are
allowed to guide themselves at a
pace that generally helps them
outperform their peers in other
high schools. Nearly 80% of
students scored a 4 or 5 on their
AP exams in 2014.
Wikipedia
10. Saratoga High School – Saratoga, California
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Thirty-two percent of the class
of 2015 are either semifinalists
or commended scholars in the
National Merit Scholarship
program. Saratoga, where the
school is located, is a hub for
Silicon Valley-area students,
and many enroll in AP
computer science and other
STEM courses. The school's
STEM programming is No. 11
in the country, according to U.S.
News.
YouTube/Homestead High School Music
9. Liberal Arts & Science Academy – Austin, Texas
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Liberal Arts & Science
Academy is a highly selective
magnet school for students
interested in liberal arts and the
sciences. This year the school
has had 33 National Merit
Scholarship semifinalists and 50
commended scholars. LASA is
committed to teaching "above
and beyond state and district
standards," with rigorous
classes like American film
analysis, number theory, and
medical microbiology.
Google Earth
8. Henry M. Gunn High School – Palo Alto, California
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Another Palo Alto school,
Henry M. Gunn High School
offers free private tutoring by
peers and qualified community
volunteers. Gunn does
everything to make sure its
students are ahead of the game,
from SAT boot camp prep
courses to the small learning
community, a program for
freshmen who, selected through
a lottery, engage in leadership
opportunities and a more
integrated curriculum.
Wikipedia
7. Lynbrook High School – San Jose, California
SAT composite r ange: 20802130
Almost 50% of students at
Lynbrook High got the top
score of 5 on AP exams in 2014.
LHS has a number of applied
academics subjects available
(including business education,
industrial technology, and
career technology) to give
students an academic
background combined with
useful workplace skills.
Yelp user Terry Y.
6. BASIS Scottsdale – Scottsdale, Arizona
SAT composite r ange: 21402210
There are BASIS schools all
over the country, but the
Scottsdale location is the most
recognized. U.S. News ranked
BASIS Scottsdale No. 1 among
charter schools, No. 1 in the
state, and No. 2 in the country.
In 2013, The Washington Post
named the school to its list of
top-performing schools with the
most elite students. Students
outperform their peers in
Arizona in all academically
assessed subjects.
Google Earth
5. Walter Payton College Preparatory High School –
Chicago
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
U.S. News ranks Walter Payton
College Preparatory High
School the second-best high
school in Illinois; it's also the
second best in Chicago, and the
No. 1 international high school
in the US. Payton's math,
science, and debate teams have
been nationally recognized in
competitions, and the school has
a growing Mandarin Chinese
language program, which puts
students at the forefront of an
increasingly global workforce.
Walter Payton College Prep
4. Westlake High School – Austin, Texas
SAT composite r ange: 19802010
Niche considers Westlake High
School not only the fourthsmartest in the US but the No. 1
high school in Texas, the No. 3
open-admission comprehensive
public high school, and the
seventh-best high school
overall. Westlake participates in
a unique six-week culturalexchange program with Bugil
Academy in South Korea cotaught by teachers in both
schools.
Wikipedia
3. High Technology High School – Lincroft, New Jersey
SAT composite r ange: 22202280
High Technology High School's
STEM programming is ranked
No. 2 in the country by U.S.
News. Close to the Jersey shore,
the magnet school is extremely
selective; just 75 students are
admitted out of over 300
applicants a year. In their senior
years, students participate in a
semester-long rotational
mentorship program, shadowing
mentors who provide advice
about the industries in which
they work.
Twitter/@HighTechHS
2. International Academy – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
SAT composite r ange: 20202070
Every student at International
Academy participates in the
International Baccalaureate
program, which can earn
students up to a year's worth of
college credit, depending on the
college or university they end
up attending. International
Academy in Bloomfield Hills is
ranked No. 1 in Michigan,
according to U.S. News.
Wikipedia
1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and
Technology – Annandale, Virginia
SAT composite r ange: 22202280
All courses at Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science and
Technology are taught at the
gifted, honors, AP, or post-AP
level, and, in 2014, over 97%
scored a 3 or higher on their AP
exams. Last year's senior class
matriculated into some of the
best colleges in the country; 10
or more students went to
schools like Brown, Stanford,
UPenn, MIT, and Johns
Hopkins. U.S. News ranks
Thomas Jefferson the best high
school in the state, and the No.
1 STEM program among high
schools in the US.
Facebook.com/TJHSST