Here's How San Anselmo-Fairfax Schools Rank: Niche

SAN ANSELMO-FAIRFAX, CA — San Anselmo and Fairfax have multiple top-ranked schools, according to new grades and rankings released by Niche. The ranking and review site gave nearly every school in the area an overall grade of A.

Here's how Niche graded and ranked San Anselmo and Fairfax schools:

• Wade Thomas Elementary School: A-, ranked 16th best public elementary school in Marin County and 793rd best public elementary school in California
• Brookside Elementary School: A-, ranked 17th best public elementary school in Marin County and 840th best public elementary school in California
• Hidden Valley Elementary School: A-, ranked 923rd best public elementary school in California
  
• Manor Elementary School: B+, ranked 22nd best public elementary school in Marin County
• White Hill Middle School: A-, ranked ninth best public middle school in Marin County and 453rd best public middle school in California
• Sir Francis Drake High School: A+, ranked third best public high school in Marin County and 113th best public high school in California

Related: San Anselmo-Fairfax School Calendar 2019-2020

Niche looked at more than 94,000 public schools, 4,100 private schools and nearly 11,000 school districts across the country. The rankings are meant to help parents and students find schools that best fit their needs.

"Unlike traditional school rankings, which rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance, Niche's rankings provide a real-life view of what it's like to attend a given school," the company said in a news release.

Comments from current students, alumni, and parents are included in the analysis, as well as observations about things like campus life, extracurricular activities, sports options, diversity, and programs for gifted and special needs students.

"Parents and students need more than test-score data," Luke Skurman, CEO at Niche, said in the news release. "They need to understand what it's really like to attend a school before they start the application or registration process."

For the first time, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, were ranked the top private and public high schools, respectively, in the nation.

2020 top public high schools:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology
2. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
3. Walter Payton College Prep
4. Stuyvesant High School
5. Bergen County Academies

2020 top private high schools:

1. Phillips Exeter Academy
2. St. Mark's School of Texas
3. Phillips Academy
4. The College Preparatory School
5. Trinity School

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.