U.S. News Best High Schools 2019: Rye Makes List

RYE, NY —More than 40 high schools in the Hudson Valley are among the best high schools 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, including Rye.

Bronxville High School topped the ranks for the Hudson Valley at No. 99 nationally and No. 11 in the state.

Here are the Hudson Valley schools that ranked in the top 200 in the state, along with their national rank:

• Bronxville High School: 99 nationally / 11 in NY
• Edgemont Junior-Senior High School: 112 nationally / 14 in NY
• Rye High School: 139 nationally / 18 in NY
• Byram Hills High School: 144 nationally / 20 in NY
• Blind Brook High School: 145 nationally / 21 in NY
• Horace Greeley High School: 187 nationally / 24 in NY
• Dobbs Ferry High School: 256 nationally / 30 in NY
• North Salem Middle School /High School: 300 nationally / 32 in NY
• Ardsley High School: 318 nationally / 33 in NY
• Croton-Harmon High School: 322 nationally / 35 in NY
• Harrison High School: 328 nationally / 37 in NY
• Briarcliff High School: 366 nationally / 39 in NY
• John Jay High School: 393 nationally / 41 in NY
• Hastings High School: 396 nationally / 42 in NY
• Pleasantville High School: 462 nationally / 45 in NY
• Yonkers High School: 496 nationally / 47 in NY
• Irvington High School: 529 nationally / 51 in NY
• Scarsdale Senior High School: 596 nationally / 56 in NY
• Mamaroneck High School: 625 nationally / 58 in NY
• Yorktown High School: 635 nationally / 59 in NY
• Rye Neck Senior High School: 638 nationally / 60 in NY
• Pelham Memorial High School: 692 nationally / 65 in NY
• Haldane High School: 815 nationally / 76 in NY
• Hendrick Hudson High School: 843 nationally / 80 in NY
• Lakeland High School: 883 nationally / 83 in NY
• Spackenkill High School: 960 nationally / 89 in NY
• Sleepy Hollow High School: 988 nationally / 91 in NY
• Fox Lane High School: 1,037 nationally / 94 in NY
• Walter Panas High School: 1060 nationally / 95 in NY
• Eastchester Senior High School: 1,088 nationally / 97 in NY
• Rhinebeck Senior High School: 1,191 nationally / 102 in NY
• Pearl River High School: 1,263 nationally / 107 in NY
• Clarkstown South Senior High School: 1,280 nationally / 108 in NY
• Somers Senior High School: 1,288 nationally / 111 in NY
• Nyack Senior High School: 1,338 nationally / 115 in NY
• Nanuet Senior High School: 1,698 nationally / 152 in NY
• Carmel High School: 1,717 nationally / 157 in NY
• Tuckahoe High School: 1,744 nationally / 163 in NY
• Pawling High School: 1,852 nationally / 172 in NY
• Onteora High School: 1,856 nationally / 173 in NY
• Valhalla High School: 2,007 nationally / 181 in NY
• Putnam Valley High School: 2,099 nationally / 189 in NY
• Tappan Zee High School: 2,160 nationally / 194 in NY
• Suffern Senior High School: 2,174 nationally / 196 in NY
• Warwick Valley High School: 2,213 nationally / 199 in NY

Overall, New York’s schools graduate 95 percent of students.

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 top 10 schools are in 10 different states, demonstrating that a high-quality education can be found across the country, the report said. Those schools are:

1. Academic Magnet High School, South Carolina
2. Maine School of Science and Mathematics
3. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona
4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia
5. Central Magnet School, Tennessee
6. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Georgia
7. Haas Hall Academy, Arkansas
8. International Academy of Macomb, Michigan
9. Payton College Preparatory High School, Illinois
10. Signature School, Indiana

Several of those schools also were included among rankings for specialized schools.

The top five schools nationally for an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — or STEM schools — are:

1. High Technology High School, New Jersey
2. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona
3. BASIS Peoria, Arizona
4. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Georgia
5. The Early College at Guilford, North Carolina

Charter and magnet schools performed well in the rankings, U.S. News said. Within the top 5 percent of ranked schools, a third are either charter or magnet. In the national rankings, more than 18 percent are charter schools, and 15 percent are magnet schools.

Arizona had three of the top five charter high schools in the country. They are:

1. BASIS Scottsdale, Arizona
2. Haas Hall Academy, Arkansas
3. Signature Academy, Indiana
4. BASIS Chandler, Arizona
5. BASIS Peoria, Arizona

The top five magnet high schools are:

1. Academic Magnet High School, South Carolina
2. Maine School of Science and Mathematics
3. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia
4. Central Magnet School, Tennessee
5. International Academy of Macomb, Michigan

In the state-by-state performance, based on the number of high schools in the top 25 percent of national rankings, Massachusetts was the leader. This year, nearly half — 48.8 percent — of the commonwealth’s high schools were ranked in the top 25 percent of high schools. Maryland was second with 43.7 percent, followed by California, with 40 percent, and Connecticut, with 39.8 percent in the top 25 percent of schools ranked nationally.

Overall, only seven states had more than a third of their schools in the top 25 percent, and 20 states had 25 percent or more of their schools in the top 25 percent.

On the other end of the spectrum, 22 states had fewer than 20 percent of their high schools in the top 25 percent, and seven had fewer than 10 percent of schools in the top tier. South Dakota’s schools finished at the bottom of the list since it was the only state that didn’t give U.S. News permission to use advanced placement data in the rankings. Even so, 1.9 percent of South Dakota’s schools finished in the top 25 percent of rankings.

The full list is available exclusively on usnews.com.

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