Schools
CT's Best High Schools Ranked By U.S. News
Here's how Connecticut's best high schools stack up to each other, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Connecticut high schools overall tied for seventh best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 rankings of best high schools in the country. The highest ranked Connecticut school was Amistad Academy at 55th nationally.
15 Connecticut schools received a gold medal, 26 received a silver medal and 15 schools received a bronze medal.
The 2018 best high school rankings were released on Wednesday and evaluate over 20,500 public high schools. U.S. News identified schools that best serve all students and assessed how prepared students are for college-level work. Schools are also recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness.
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The state-by-state performance rating was based on which states have the highest the highest proportion of schools with gold and silver medals. Based on this metric, Massachusetts was the leading performer, followed by California and Maryland.
Seven percent of Connecticut’s high schools got a gold medal and 12.1 percent silver.
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“Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students,” Anita Narayan, managing editor of Education at U.S. News, said in a press release.
Here’s how Connecticut schools finished according to place and medal in the 2018 rankings:
| 2018 State Rank | School | District | City | Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amistad Academy | Amistad Academy District | New Haven | GOLD |
| 2 | Connecticut IB Academy | East Hartford School District | East Hartford | GOLD |
| 3 | Achievement First Hartford Academy Inc. | Achievement First Hartford Ac | Hartford | GOLD |
| 4 | Academy of Aerospace and Engineering | Capitol Region Education Coun | Windsor | GOLD |
| 5 | Ridgefield High School | Ridgefield School District | Ridgefield | GOLD |
| 6 | Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern | Learn | Groton | GOLD |
| 7 | Greenwich High School | Greenwich School District | Greenwich | GOLD |
| 8 | Staples High School | Westport School District | Westport | GOLD |
| 9 | Darien High School | Darien School District | Darien | GOLD |
| 10 | Wilton High School | Wilton School District | Wilton | GOLD |
| 11 | Hall High School | West Hartford School District | West Hartford | GOLD |
| 12 | Conard High School | West Hartford School District | West Hartford | GOLD |
| 13 | Weston High School | Weston School District | Weston | GOLD |
| 14 | Simsbury High School | Simsbury School District | Simsbury | GOLD |
| 15 | New Canaan High School | New Canaan School District | New Canaan | GOLD |
| 16 | Joel Barlow High School | Regional School District 09 | Redding | SILVER |
| 17 | Fairfield Ludlowe High School | Fairfield School District | Fairfield | SILVER |
| 18 | Newtown High School | Newtown School District | Sandy Hook | SILVER |
| 19 | Granby Memorial High School | Granby School District | Granby | SILVER |
| 20 | Farmington High School | Farmington School District | Farmington | SILVER |
| 21 | Fairfield Warde High School | Fairfield School District | Fairfield | SILVER |
| 22 | East Lyme High School | East Lyme School District | East Lyme | SILVER |
| 23 | Amity Regional High School | Regional School District 05 | Woodbridge | SILVER |
| 24 | South Windsor High School | South Windsor School District | South Windsor | SILVER |
| 25 | Avon High School | Avon School District | Avon | SILVER |
| 26 | Rham High School | Regional School District 08 | Hebron | SILVER |
| 27 | Glastonbury High School | Glastonbury School District | Glastonbury | SILVER |
| 28 | Cheshire High School | Cheshire School District | Cheshire | SILVER |
| 29 | Guilford High School | Guilford School District | Guilford | SILVER |
| 30 | Daniel Hand High School | Madison School District | Madison | SILVER |
| 31 | The Academy of Information Technology | Stamford School District | Stamford | SILVER |
| 32 | The Gilbert School | The Gilbert School | Winsted | SILVER |
| 33 | Bristol Central High School | Bristol School District | Bristol | SILVER |
| 34 | Fitch Senior High School | Groton School District | Groton | SILVER |
| 35 | CREC Medical Prof. and Teacher Prep. Acad | Capitol Region Education Coun | New Britain | SILVER |
| 36 | University High School of Science and Engineering | Hartford School District | Hartford | SILVER |
| 37 | Brien McMahon High School | Norwalk School District | Norwalk | SILVER |
| 38 | Portland High School | Portland School District | Portland | SILVER |
| 39 | Trumbull High School | Trumbull School District | Trumbull | SILVER |
| 40 | Stratford High School | Stratford School District | Stratford | SILVER |
| 41 | Hamden High School | Hamden School District | Hamden | SILVER |
| 42 | Sports and Medical Sciences Academy | Hartford School District | Hartford | BRONZE |
| 43 | Rockville High School | Vernon School District | Vernon | BRONZE |
| 44 | Tolland High School | Tolland School District | Tolland | BRONZE |
| 45 | E. O. Smith High School | Regional School District 19 | Storrs | BRONZE |
| 46 | Stafford High School | Stafford School District | Stafford Springs | BRONZE |
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To determine the rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the social science research firm RTI International. A variety of data sources, including the Common Core of Data, College Board and the International Baccalaureate, were used.
A four-step process was used to rank all eligible schools. The first two steps were to determine whether students were performing better than statistically expected in the state and whether minority were performing at or better than the state average for minority students, which was the second step. The third step required schools to meet or surpass a certain graduation benchmark and the final step was to determine college readiness. (You can read the full methodology here.)
The top 10 high schools in the U.S. overall are:
- BASIS Scottsdale (AZ)
- BASIS Chandler (AZ)
- BASIS Oro Valley (AZ)
- BASIS Tucson North (AZ)
- BASIS Flagstaff (AZ)
- Meridian School (TX)
- International Academy of Macomb (MI)
- BASIS Peoria (AZ)
- Baccalaureate School for Global Education (NY)
- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)
Click here to see the full rankings and for more insight on the data.
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