Woodstock Schools Named Top U.S. High Schools: U.S. News

WOODSTOCK, GA — Several Woodstock high schools have been named some of the best high schools in the United States, according to a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report.

This year’s list ranks more than 17,800 public high schools throughout the country.

In Cherokee County, several high schools made the list, including:

• Creekview High School
  • State ranking: No. 55
  • National ranking: No. 2,615
• Etowah High School
  • State ranking: No. 67
  • National ranking: No. 2,310
• Sequoyah High School
  • State ranking: No. 77
  • National ranking: No. 2,697
• River Ridge High School
  • State ranking: No. 80
  • National ranking: No. 3,434
• Woodstock High School
  • State ranking: No. 81
  • National ranking: No. 2,877
• Cherokee High School
  • State ranking: No. 178
  • National ranking: n/a

“It’s great to see national recognition for what we already know to be true here at home—that our teachers, students and support teams are working hard and achieving at impressive levels,” Cherokee Superintendent Brian Hightower said. “We also greatly appreciate the support of our students’ families and our community partners, which makes accomplishments like this possible.”

Among the top schools, Georgia has 426 schools on the list. The top 20 schools in the state include:

1. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology
2. Columbus High School
3. Davidson Magnet School
4. Walton High School
5. Savannah Arts Academy
6. DeKalb School of the Arts
7. Lambert High School
8. Northview High School
9. Chattahoochee High School
10. Lassiter High School
11. Academy for Classical Education
12. South Forsyth High School
13. Alpharetta High School
14. Johnson Magnet
15. McIntosh High School
16. Cambridge High School
17. North Gwinnett High School
18. Elite Scholars Academy School
19. Johns Creek High School
20. Pope High School

The purpose of the rankings is to provide insight into academic performance among underserved groups, showing how well schools are supporting these students, Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News, said in a news release.

Families can also use the rankings to see how schools compare at the national, state and local level on factors such as graduation rates and college readiness, Narayan said.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, was ranked No. 1 in the nation, as well as among magnet schools.

Here are the top 10 schools in this year’s national Best High Schools ranking:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Alexandria, Virginia
2. Academic Magnet High School - North Charleston, South Carolina
3. The Davidson Academy of Nevada - Reno, Nevada
4. Payton College Preparatory High School - Chicago, Illinois
5. School for Advanced Studies - Miami, Florida
6. Sumner Academy of Arts and Science - Kansas City, Kansas
7. Merrol Hyde Magnet School - Hendersonville, Tennessee
8. BASIS Chandler - Chandler, Arizona
9. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology - Lawrenceville, Georgia
10. Signature School - Evansville, Indiana

The methodology used for this year’s ranking focused on six factors: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.

The data used in this edition is from the 2018-2019 academic school year and, therefore, was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more about the Best High Schools methodology.

In addition to the national rankings, U.S. News also published rankings at the state, metro area and school district levels. Only metro areas and school districts with three or more high schools were included in these subrankings.

BASIS Chandler in Arizona is at the top of the list for charter schools, and High Technology High School in Lincroft, New Jersey, is the No. 1 STEM school.

To view the list of Georgia schools, visit the U.S. News website.