'U.S. News' Best High Schools rankings 2023: See how your school ranked
U.S. News & World Report released its 2023 rankings of best high schools this week, with four Rochester-area school districts cracking the top 100 in New York state.
The national and state rankings included 17,650 U.S. public high schools compared based on factors that included college readiness, math and reading proficiency and graduation rates. According to the report, the nation's top school this year is The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In New York, 1,198 high schools were ranked on the state's 2023 list. Most charter and magnet schools are included in the list, while private schools were not included.
The top 10 public high schools in the state, according to the report, are all New York City Public Schools.
Which local high schools were top performers?
Pittsford Mendon High School was ranked highest among Rochester area districts, charting at No. 30 on the state list and No. 261 on the national list.
Local public schools that made the state's top 100 high schools (along with national rankings) include:
Pittsford Sutherland High School - No. 46 (No. 349 in nation)
Brighton High School - No. 67 (No. 620 in nation)
Honeoye Falls-Lima Senior High School - No. 80 (No. 712 in nation)
Webster Thomas High School - No. 96 (No. 883 in nation)
Where did other local high schools fall in the state rankings?
Geneseo - No. 110
Victor - No. 111
Penfield - No. 124
Fairport - No. 162
Irondequoit - No. 205
Rush-Henrietta - No. 212
Avon - No. 215
Caledonia-Mumford - No. 218
Spencerport - No. 221
Kendall - No. 235
Canandaigua - No. 241
Webster Schroeder - No. 243
Eastridge - No. 245
Wheatland-Chili - No. 294
Livonia - No. 305
Hilton - No. 314
East Rochester - No. 316
Brockport - No. 328
Churchville-Chili - No. 365
Red Jacket (Shortsville) - No. 402
Ruben A. Cirillo (Gananda) - No. 419
Medina - No. 450
Wayne - No. 452
Palmyra-Macedon - No. 456
Greece Athena - No. 502
School of the Arts - No. 523
Greece Arcadia - No. 533
Greece Odyssey - No. 567
Bloomfield - No. 579
Geneva - No. 593
Rochester Academy Charter School - No. 596
Greece Olympia - No. 605
School Without Walls - No. 626
Gates Chili - No. 672
East High School - No. 836
World of Inquiry School - No. 915
Edison Career and Technology High School - No. 976-1,198
Holley - No. 976-1,198
James Monroe High School - No. 976-1,198
Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School - No. 976-1,198
Leadership Academy for Young Men - No. 976-1,198
Northeast College Preparatory High School - No. 976-1,198
Rochester Early College International High School - No. 976-1,198
True North Rochester Preparatory Charter School - No. 976-1,198
University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men - No. 976-1,198
Vertus Charter School - No. 976-1,198
Young Women's College Prep Charter School of Rochester - No. 976-1,198
What is the methodology?
U.S. News & World Report changed its ranking system in 2019 to make the list more comprehensive and easier to understand.
The new numbers take six factors — including math and reading proficiency, graduation rates and college readiness — weights them, and produces an overall score for each school between zero and 100.
The score correlates to a schools’ percentile — for example, a school with a score of 70 is in the 70th percentile and ranks higher than 70% of schools, said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, in a release.
Then the agency ranked each school against its peers in descending order.
This year, the report adjusted its calculations because state tests were canceled in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its place, test results from both 2018-19 and 2020-21 were considered, according to U.S. News.
Were all schools in the nation ranked?
No. Certain schools appear as "unranked" or don't appear at all. In all, U.S. News ranked 17,680 public high schools out of the nearly 25,000 that were reviewed.
Possible reasons include schools without a 12th grade or fewer than 15 12th graders, or schools for which enough assessment data wasn't available. Specialty schools, such as those with vocational orientations, were also not included.
Where did the school data come from?
The Common Core of Data from the U.S. Department of Education
Statewide math and reading level assessment tests and high school graduation rates, obtained from state education agencies and/or websites
Advanced Placement exam data from The College Board
International Baccalaureate exam data from International Baccalaureate
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Best high schools in New York: Where does your Rochester school rank?
