Whitney High School In Cerritos Ranked Among Top 15 High Schools Nationally

CERRITOS, CA — Three public high schools in Los Angeles County, including one in Cerritos, were ranked among the top 25 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's 2026-2027 Best High Schools,

U.S. News evaluated about 27,000 eligible public high schools nationwide and ranked nearly 18,000 of them.

Three Los Angeles County high schools were ranked among the top 25 of all public schools nationally:

• Science Academy Stem Magnet — North Hollywood (No. 10)
• Whitney High School — Cerritos (No. 11)
• Dr. Richard A. Vladovic Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy — Wilmington (No. 24)

And 10 other high schools in the county were ranked among the top 50 in California:

• California Academy of Mathematics and Science — Carson (No. 7)
• Girls Academic Leadership Academy Dr. Michelle King School STEM — University Park, Los Angeles (No. 14)
• San Marino High School — San Marino (No. 19)
• La Cañada High School — La Cañada Flintridge (No. 24)
• Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School — La Crescenta (No. 30)
• Palos Verdes Peninsula High School — Rolling Hills Estates (No. 38)
• Compton Early College High School — Compton (No. 43)
• South Pasadena Senior High School — South Pasadena (No. 44)
• Downtown Business High School — Los Angeles (No. 45)
• Eunice Sato Academy of Math & Science — Long Beach (No. 46)

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Among metropolitan areas with a significant number of ranked schools, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, had the largest share in the national top quarter, at 60 percent. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, followed at 59 percent, and Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin, at 56 percent.

The rankings are based on six performance measures, including student achievement on state-required assessments, graduation rates and college readiness.

U.S. News also considers how well schools serve underserved students, participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, curriculum breadth and overall student outcomes.

The rankings use data from the 2023-2024 school year and were produced with research firm RTI International.

The full rankings are available at U.S. News & World Report.