Best Schools: How Bradenton Ranked In 2022 Niche List

BRADENTON, FL — The latest school rankings released by the data analysis company Niche offer a look at how K-12 schools in Bradenton compare with each other.

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

Here are how the schools in Bradenton fared in the rankings:

• #44 best public school in Florida: State College of Florida Collegiate School, A
• #45 best private school in Florida: St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, A+
• #153 best public high school in Florida: Lakewood Ranch High School, A-
• #169 best private high school in Florida: Bradenton Christian School, B+
• #226 best public high school in Florida: Manatee School for the Arts, B+
• #236 best public high school in Florida: Braden River High School, B+
• #296 best public high school in Florida: Manatee High School, B
• #297 best public high school for STEM in Florida: Team Success, B-
• #299 best public high school in Florida: Southeast High School, B
• #327 best public elementary school in Florida: Palmetto Charter School, A-
• #438 best public middle school in Florida: Carlos E. Hail Middle School, B
• #493 best public elementary school in Florida: Louise R. Johnson Middle School, B+
• #593 best public elementary school in Florida: B.D. Gullett Elementary, B+
• #688 best public elementary school in Florida: Rowlett Elementary Academy, B+
• #808 best public elementary school in Florida: Ida M. Stewart Elementary School, B
• #980 best public elementary school in Florida: Palma Sola Elementary School

Niche listed one Bradenton schools only by their rank within Manatee County:

• #16 best public elementary school in Manatee County: Freedom Elementary School, B

The following schools received only letter grades:

• Braden River Middle School, B-
• Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch, B-
• Imagine Schools North Manatee Campus, B-
• Jessie P. Miller Elementary School, B-
• Oasis Middle School, B-
• Manatee School of Arts & Sciences, C+
• Martha B. King Middle School, C+
• Sea Breeze Elementary School, C+

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