Pine View School Ranked #1 Public High School in FL: Niche

SARASOTA, FL — The Pine View School in Osprey was voted the best public high school in Florida by Niche, a data analysis company that released its 2022 list of school rankings last week.

This is hardly news for the grades 2-12 magnet school for the gifted. In 2012, the Florida Department of Education ranked Pine View as the best Florida school combining high school students with other grade levels. In 2013, U.S. News and World Report also ranked it the best high school in Florida. In 2009, Pine View was rated America’s Best High School for Florida by Business Week.

“Once, again- Pine View is rated by many outside national and state ranking organizations as the #1 school in Florida, #1 elementary school in the United States, and the #6 Magnet School in the United States,” Principal Steven Covert said on the school’s website. “These accolades are based on the dedication, commitment, and hard work of our students and teachers to excellence- supported by incredibly passionate parents.”

Niche, which released its eighth annual version of the rankings, looks at a variety of criteria in determining a letter grade for both public and private K-12 schools in Sarasota County, including academics, teachers and diversity.

Here is how some other schools in Sarasota County that placed in the top 1000 in their category of schools in Florida:

• Phillippi Shores Elementary School: #17 best public elementary school in Florida, A
• Sarasota School of Arts & Science: #23 best public middle school in Florida, A
• Southside Elementary School: #33 best public elementary school in Florida
• Student Leadership Academy: #34 best public middle school in Florida, A
• Riverview High School: #59 best public high school in Florida, A
• Bay Haven School of Basics Plus
• Brookside Middle School: #71 best public middle school in Florida, A-
• Sky Academy Venice: #85 best public middle school in Florida, A-
• Fruitville Elementary School: #93 best public elementary school in Florida, A-
• Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School: #115 private high school in Florida, A
• Sarasota Academy of the Arts: #169 best public elementary school in Florida, A-
• Booker High School: #171 best public high school in Florida, A-
• McIntosh Middle School: #180 best public middle school in Florida, A-
• Suncoast Polytechnical High School: #190 best public high school in Florida, A-
• Sarasota High School: #198 best public high school in Florida, A-
• Sarasota Military Academy: #265 best public high school in Florida, B+
• Imagine School at North Port: #267 best public school in Florida, B+
• Sarasota Suncoast Academy: #295 best public elementary school in Florida, A-
• Booker Middle School: #336 best public middle school in Florida, B+
• Alta Vista Elementary School: #434 best public elementary school in Florida, B+
• Imagine School at Palmer Ranch: #445 best public elementary school in Florida, B+
• Brentwood Elementary School: #506 best public elementary school in Florida, B+
• Gocio Elementary School: #731 best public elementary school in Florida, B+

Niche said its 2022 best schools rankings offer a more “personal” view of schools than its rankings in recent years. Significantly less importance was placed on SAT and ACT scores this year, Niche said. Any factor in its methodology that is related to test scores was reduced by one third.

The company combined ratings from students, alumni and parents with quantitative data from the U.S. Department of Education and other sources to evaluate teachers, resources, facility, extracurricular activity opportunities and other factors. Read more about the methodology here.

Across the country, Niche ranked 94,491 public schools, 2,489 private schools and 11,846 school districts to come up with its lists and rankings.

Top 5 Public High Schools:

1. The Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada
2. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
3. Massachusetts Academy for Math & Science School
4. Maggie Walker Governor’s School in Virginia
5. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Virginia

Top 5 Private High Schools:

1. Phillips Academy in Massachusetts
2. The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut
3. Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut
4. The College Preparatory School in California
5. Groton School in Massachusetts

Top 5 School Districts:

1. Adlai E. Stevenson High School District in Illinois
2. Glenbrook High School District in Illinois
3. Great Neck Public Schools in New York
4. Community High School District 128 in Illinois
5. Jericho Union Free School District in New York

See the full Niche rankings here