Connecticut's Top 100 Public High Schools For 2021: Report

CONNECTICUT — Niche.com released its 2021 list of the 100 best public high schools in Connecticut and once again two counties, Fairfield and Hartford, dominate the list.

The top six public high schools are all in Fairfield County, West Hartford takes both seventh and eighth best, and then followed by more Fairfield and Hartford County entrants.

Daniel Hand High School in Madison at No. 17 is the first high school from New Haven County to make the list. The Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut is ranked No. 12 overall.

Niche, a website for researching schools, used a variety of factors, including SAT/ACT scores, student-teacher ratio, the quality of colleges students consider and reviews from students and parents for its ranking.

Niche assigns a standardized score for each factor, which is then weighted before an overall score is calculated for each school district. The overall scores are again standardized and some districts are disqualified from receiving a final letter grade if there isn't enough data.

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Here is the list of the best public high schools in Connecticut. You can click on the school's name, and it will give you a breakdown of grades in several areas along with numerous reviews from staff and students.

1. Staples High School

2. Darien High School

3. New Canaan High School

4. Greenwich High School

5. Wilton High School

6. Weston High School

7. Conard High School

8. Hall High School

9. Avon High School

10. Ridgefield High School

11. Farmington High School

12. Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut

13. Simsbury High School

14. Glastonbury High School

15. Fairfield Warde High School

16. Joel Barlow High School

17. Daniel Hand High School

18. Amity Regional High School

19. Fairfield Ludlowe High School

20. Guilford High School

21. Elm City College Preparatory School

22. The Academy of Information Technology & Engineering

23. East Lyme High School

24. Achievement First Bridgeport Academy

25. Masuk High School

26. Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy

27. Old Saybrook Senior High School

28. Canton High School

29. Trumbull High School

30. Academy of Aerospace & Engineering

31. Cheshire High School

32. Center for Global Studies

33. Newtown High School

34. Brookfield High School

35. E.O. Smith High School

36. Pomperaug Regional High School

37. Lyme-Old Lyme High School

38. Rham High School

39. Shepaug Valley School

40. Granby Memorial High School

41. Rocky Hill High School

42. South Windsor High School

43. Jonathan Law High School

44. Waterford High School

45. Northwestern Regional High School

46. Bethel High School

47. Stonington High School

48. Suffield High School

49. Haddam-Killingworth High School

50. Wheeler High School

51. Lewis S. Mills High School

52. North Haven High School

53. Valley Regional High School

54. Berlin High School

55. Joseph A. Foran High School

56. East Granby High School

57. University High School of Science and Engineering

58. Coventry High School

59. Mark T. Sheehan High School

60. Wethersfield High School

61. Tolland High School

62. Newington High School

63. Ledyard High School

64. Housatonic Valley Regional High School

65. Woodland Regional High School

66. Ellington High School

67. Engineering - Science University Magnet School

68. Westbrook High School

69. Branford High School

70. Brien McMahon High School

71. Robert E. Fitch High School

72. East Hampton High School

73. New Milford High School

74. Bristol Central High School

75. Westhill High School

76. New Fairfield High School

77. Bacon Academy

78. Parish Hill High School

79. Windsor High School

80. Middletown High School

81. Aerospace/Hydrospace Engineering & Physical Sciences at the Fairchild Wheeler Campus

82. Somers High School

83. Plainville High School

84. Bolton High School

85. Portland High School

86. Litchfield High School

87. The Morgan School

88. Southington High School

89. Coginchaug Regional High School

90. Cromwell High School

91. Montville High School

92. Amistad Academy

93. Lyman Hall High School

94. Three Rivers Middle College Magnet School

95. Oxford High School

96. Wolcott High School

97. Achievement First Hartford Academy

98. Manchester High School

99. Nonnewaug High School

100. Shelton High School