Ridge Named One Of NJ's Top 25 High Schools: U.S. News

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Basking Ridge has one of the top 25 high schools in New Jersey, according to U.S. News & World Report. The publication's high school rankings features more than 17,800 public high schools throughout the country.

Ridge High School is the 25rd-best high school in New Jersey and ranks 585th in the nation, according to U.S. News.

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.

Several other Somerset County high schools also made the list for the top 100 in New Jersey. Below are where they ranked in NJ and the school's name:

• 25. Ridge High School, Bernards Township School District, Basking Ridge
• 27. Montgomery High School, Montgomery Township School District, Skillman
• 33. Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Somerset
• 51. Bernards High School, Somerset Hills Regional School District, Bernardsville
• 69. Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, Bridgewater
• 84. Watchung Hills Regional High School, Watchung Hills Regional High School District, Warren
• 98. Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough Township Public School District, Hillsborough

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.

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