US News Best High Schools 2019: Souhegan Makes The List

More than 80 New Hampshire high schools rank among the best in America, U.S. News & World Report said Tuesday in its most comprehensive ranking yet of the nation's high schools. More than 17,000 schools are ranked, an increase from 2,700 last year. Nashua's Academy for Science and Design ranked first in the state and 108th nationally in the U.S. News Best High Schools rankings for 2019.

Souhegan High School is ranked 11th on the list and 2,397th in the nation.

View the full list of high schools in New Hampshire here.

U.S. News & World Report is the gold standard for education rankings and is widely considered the global authority. Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News, said the aim of the rankings is to give families more information about the schools in their district.

"By evaluating more schools than ever before, the new edition expands that focus so all communities can see which schools in their area are successfully serving their students — including historically underserved populations," Narayan said in a news release.

The factors considered in compiling the list include college readiness; reading and math proficiency; reading and math performance; underserved student performance; college curriculum breadth; and graduation rates. College readiness measures participation and performance on advanced placement and international baccalaureate exams.

The data also take into account school enrollment, student diversity, participation in free and reduced-price meal programs, graduation rates and the results of state assessment tests. U.S. News worked with the global research firm RTI International to rank the schools.

"We enhanced the methodology to provide an even more comprehensive ranking that is easier to understand and, therefore, more useful to parents and educators," Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, said in a news release. "Now, each school's score correlates to its national percentile — a school with a score of 70 is in the 70th percentile and ranks higher than 70 percent of schools. Going forward, this methodology will allow for intuitive comparisons of a school's performance year after year."

The full list is available exclusively on usnews.com.