How did your local high school fare on the U.S. News & World Report ranking?

April Barton, Burlington Free Press
·3 min read

The rankings are out for 2022 — which Vermont high school took the top spot this year on U.S. News & World Report's best high schools list?

Mount Mansfield Union High School in Jericho gets that distinction which also put it at number 703 in the country among the 18,000 schools ranked for the report. MMU swapped positions with South Burlington High School which ranked first in 2021 and climbed the national list even higher, which South Burlington held at number 786 in the country last year. South Burlington was 906th overall this year.

Public high schools were evaluated by college readiness weighted as 30% of the calculation; state assessment proficiency and performance for 40%; underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rate for 10% each.

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Mount Mansfield Union High School in Jericho on July 30, 2020.
Mount Mansfield Union High School in Jericho on July 30, 2020.

Top three high schools in Vermont

Consistently vying for top spot in a variety of rankings are MMU, South Burlington High School and Champlain Valley Union High School.

A September ranking from Niche.com, had SBHS, MMU and CVU in that order.

Here's a closer look at how those schools fared in the metrics.

At Mount Mansfield Union High School 51% of students took at least one Advanced Placement (AP) college level credit exam and 45% of students passed at least one AP exam. In state standardized tests, 58% of students were proficient in math and science; there were no scores for reading. And, 92% of students graduated.

In South Burlington High School, 55% of students took an AP test and 43% passed one of those tests to receive college credit. State assessment scores were high with math proficiency at 62%, science at 59% and reading at 76%. The graduation rate was 94%.

Champlain Valley Union High School had 48% of students take an AP exam with 43% of students passing one. Math proficiency was 44%, with science at 56% and reading at 80%. The graduation rate was 96%.

Which schools made the top ten in Vermont

Other Vermont high schools making the top 10 list were ones that consistently perform well and some were outside Chittenden, the state's most populous county.

Coming in at number 4 was Middlebury, followed by Lake Region in Orleans at 5, Milton 6, then Montpelier at 7, Essex High was number 8, Colchester 9 with Vergennes rounded out the top 10.

South Burlington High School, seen on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.
South Burlington High School, seen on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.

Schools were also ranked on five major metrics.

In College Readiness:

  • #1 Mount Mansfield Union High School

  • #2 South Burlington High School

  • #3 Northfield Middle/High School

  • #4 Champlain Valley Union High School

  • #5 Montpelier High School

College Curriculum Breadth

  • #1 Mount Mansfield Union High School

  • #2 Middlebury Union High School

  • #3 Montpelier High School

  • #4 South Burlington High School

  • #5 Milton Senior High School

Champlain Valley Union High School students complete work at separate tables while limiting the spread of COVID-19 by being outside during the 2020-2021 school year. Being physically distant and masked for school learning twice a week has made it tougher for teens to maintain find ways to socialize.
Champlain Valley Union High School students complete work at separate tables while limiting the spread of COVID-19 by being outside during the 2020-2021 school year. Being physically distant and masked for school learning twice a week has made it tougher for teens to maintain find ways to socialize.

Schools were ranked by how students performed on standardized tests in two areas: one measured the amount of students shown to be proficient in a specific subject area, the other evaluated at the highest scores achieved by students in the school.

State Assessment Proficiency

  • 1. Mount Mansfield Union High School

  • 2. South Burlington High School

  • 3. Champlain Valley Union High School

  • 4. Middlebury Union High School

  • 5. Essex High School

State Assessment Performance

  • 1. Lake Region Union High School

  • 2. Mount Mansfield Union High School

  • 3. Milton Senior High School

  • 4. Mt. Anthony Union High School

  • 5. Middlebury Union High School

Graduation Rate

  • 1. BFA High - Fairfax

  • 2. Champlain Valley Union High School

  • 3. Harwood Union Middle/High School

  • 4. South Burlington High School

  • 5. Mount Mansfield Union High School

U.S. News & World Report only evaluated public high schools. Other rankings, including one by Niche.com, ranked private schools as well as middle and elementary schools.

More: These Chittenden County schools won top spots in a new ranking of education quality

Generally speaking, Vermont is considered one of the most educated populations in the U.S. However, the state lags in how many native Vermonters graduate and then go on to attend college, especially in rural areas.

More: Vermont ranks highly in study of most educated states in the country

Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Best Vermont high schools according to U.S. News & World Report