West Hartford's High Schools Among CT's Best: Report

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Both of West Hartford's public high schools are among the top 15 in Connecticut in U.S. News & World Report's newly released 2026-27 Best High Schools rankings.

Hall High School ranked No. 8 in Connecticut and No. 368 nationally, while Conard High School placed No. 13 statewide and No. 669 nationally.

U.S. News evaluated more than 27,000 public high schools across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The rankings include traditional public high schools as well as charter schools and schools focused on science, technology, engineering, and math.

Connecticut IB Academy in East Hartford topped the statewide rankings and placed No. 153 nationally. Greenwich High School was second in Connecticut and No. 194 nationally, followed by Weston High School at No. 3 in the state and No. 235 nationally.

Other schools ahead of Hall in the Connecticut rankings were Darien, Staples, New Canaan and Wilton high schools.

Rounding out Connecticut's top 10 were Ridgefield High School at No. 9 and Simsbury High School at No. 10.

U.S. News bases its rankings on six performance measures, including college readiness, state assessment performance and graduation rates.

The methodology also considers how schools serve underserved students, participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, and the breadth of college-level coursework.

The 2026-27 rankings use data from the 2023-24 school year and were produced with research firm RTI International.

Hall's No. 8 statewide ranking placed it ahead of several nearby schools, including Simsbury High School at No. 10, Farmington High School at No. 11 and Avon High School at No. 20.

Conard, meanwhile, ranked immediately behind Joel Barlow High School in Redding and ahead of Marine Science Magnet High School in Groton.

The full 2026-27 Best High Schools rankings are available from U.S. News & World Report.