Some local high schools drop out of US News and World Report’s top schools list
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The U.S. News & World Report released its highly anticipated 2021 Best High School rankings on Tuesday – and some local institutions were notably absent.
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The newest edition ranked more than 17,000 public high schools nationwide.
A Northern Virginia school sealed the top spot, but many of the area’s prestigious schools were left on the outside looking in.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology registered the top ranking on the list.
Among the ranked schools:
- 35.3% are in rural or remote areas
- 24.6% are in cities
The magazine says the high schools rankings compare schools at the national, state, and local levels on factors including graduation rates and college readiness. They went on to say that the ranking also provide insight into academic performance among underserved groups.
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The methodology has been ever changing, which could explain why some schools on the list years prior were left off.
According to the magazine, the date they used was from the 2018-2019 academic school year, and was not impacted by the pandemic.
Even so, in Maryland, 25 Montgomery County public schools earned spots on the 2021 Best High Schools list — five ranked in the top 500 nationally, and eight were ranked in the top 25 in Maryland.
Walt Whitman High School was ranked first in Maryland and 105th nationally.
The District’s School Without Walls was ranked 90th in the nation.