Minnesota Has 58 Of America's Best High Schools In 2018: US News

Fifty-eight Minnesota schools ranked among the best in the U.S., according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 rankings of best high schools in the country. The highest ranked Minnesota school on the list was Nova Classical Academy (No. 186 in the national rankings).

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.

Related: Minnesota Has 4 U.S. News Best STEM High Schools For 2018

Seven Minnesota schools received a gold medal, while 51 received a silver.

Compared to other states, Minnesota's performance was rated as no. 26 by U.S. News. 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.

“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 Minnesota’s schools finished in the 2018 rankings:

1. No. 186 nationally - Nova Classical Academy Upper School, Saint Paul (Gold)
2. No. 210 nationally - Orono Senior High, Orono Public School District, Long Lake (Gold)
3. No. 246 nationally - Long Prairie-Grey Secondary School Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Dist Long Prairie (Gold)
4. No. 338 nationally - Math and Science Academy Math And Science Academy Woodbury (Gold)
5. No. 356 nationally - Great River School Great River School Saint Paul (Gold)
6. No. 430 nationally - Edina Senior High, Edina Public School District, Edina (Gold)
7. No. 453 nationally - Mahtomedi Senior High, Mahtomedi Public School District, Mahtomedi (Gold)
8. No. 506 nationally - St. Anthony Village Senior High, St. Anthony-New Brighton Schools Saint Anthony (Silver)
9. No. 524 nationally - Eagan Senior High, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Eagan (Silver)
10. No. 561 nationally - Chanhassen High, School Eastern Carver County Public School Chanhassen (Silver)
11. No. 568 nationally - Minnetonka Senior High, Minnetonka Public School District, Minnetonka (Silver)
12. No. 571 nationally - Eastview Senior High, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Apple Valley (Silver)
13. No. 575 nationally - Mounds View Senior High, Mounds View Public School District, Arden Hills (Silver)
14. No. 644 nationally - Harbor City International Charter Harbor City International Charter Duluth (Silver)
15. No. 695 nationally - Mankato West Senior High, Mankato Public School District, Mankato (Silver)
16. No. 718 nationally - Wayzata High, Wayzata Public School District, Plymouth (Silver)
17. No. 759 nationally - Chaska High, School Eastern Carver County Public School Chaska (Silver)
18. No. 803 nationally - Century Senior High, Rochester Public School District, Rochester (Silver)
19. No. 887 nationally - Sartell Senior High, Sartell-St. Stephen School District, Sartell (Silver)
20. No. 1032 nationally - East Ridge High, School South Washington County School Dist Woodbury (Silver)
21. No. 1146 nationally - Irondale Senior High, Mounds View Public School District, New Brighton (Silver)
22. No. 1168 nationally - Eden Prairie Senior High, Eden Prairie Public School District, Eden Prairie (Silver)
23. No. 1170 nationally - Jefferson Senior High, Bloomington Public School District, Bloomington (Silver)
24. No. 1262 nationally - Woodbury Senior High, South Washington County School Dist Woodbury (Silver)
25. No. 1276 nationally - Mound-Westonka High, School Westonka Public School District, Minnetrista (Silver)
26. No. 1305 nationally - Henry Sibley High, School West St. Paul-Mendota Hts.-Eagan West Saint Paul (Silver)
27. No. 1379 nationally - Centennial High, School Centennial Public School District, Circle Pines (Silver)
28. No. 1431 nationally - Rosemount Senior High, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Rosemount (Silver)
29. No. 1447 nationally - South St. Paul Secondary South St. Paul Public School Dist. South Saint Paul (Silver)
30. No. 1464 nationally - Prior Lake High, School Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools Savage (Silver)
31. No. 1575 nationally - Northfield Senior High, Northfield Public School District, Northfield (Silver)
32. No. 1624 nationally - Rogers Senior High, Elk River Public School District, Rogers (Silver)
33. No. 1762 nationally - Elk River Senior High, Elk River Public School District, Elk River (Silver)
34. No. 1797 nationally - Houston Secondary Houston Public School District, Houston (Silver)
35. No. 1810 nationally - White Bear South Campus Senior White Bear Lake School District, White Bear Lake (Silver)
36. No. 1825 nationally - Forest Lake Senior High, Forest Lake Public School District, Forest Lake (Silver)
37. No. 1862 nationally - Red Rock Central Secondary Red Rock Central School District, Lamberton (Silver)
38. No. 1870 nationally - Brainerd Senior High, Brainerd Public School District, Brainerd (Silver)
39. No. 1929 nationally - Red Wing Senior High, Red Wing Public School District, Red Wing (Silver)
40. No. 1943 nationally - Tartan Senior High, North St Paul-Maplewood Oakdale Dis Oakdale (Silver)
41. No. 1996 nationally - Waconia Senior High, Waconia Public School District, Waconia (Silver)
42. No. 2042 nationally - Spring Lake Park Senior High, Spring Lake Park Public Schools Spring Lake Park (Silver)
43. No. 2078 nationally - Apple Valley Senior High, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Apple Valley (Silver)
44. No. 2124 nationally - Mayo Senior High, Rochester Public School District, Rochester (Silver)
45. No. 2174 nationally - Burnsville Senior High, Burnsville Public School District, Burnsville (Silver)
46. No. 2232 nationally - Twin Cities Academy High, School Twin Cities Academy High, School Saint Paul (Silver)
47. No. 2247 nationally - St. Michael-Albertville Senior High, St. Michael-Albertville School Dist Saint Michael (Silver)
48. No. 2281 nationally - Shakopee Senior High, Shakopee Public School District, Shakopee (Silver)
49. No. 2290 nationally - Detroit Lakes Senior High, Detroit Lakes Public School Dist. Detroit Lakes (Silver)
50. No. 2344 nationally - Bemidji Senior High, Bemidji Public School District, Bemidji (Silver)
51. No. 2350 nationally - Osseo Senior High, Osseo Public School District, Osseo (Silver)
52. No. 2352 nationally - Eagle Ridge Academy Charter School Eagle Ridge Academy Charter School Eden Prairie (Silver)
53. No. 2357 nationally - Spectrum High, School Spectrum High, School Elk River (Silver)
54. No. 2420 nationally - Hastings High, School Hastings Public School District, Hastings (Silver)
55. No. 2462 nationally - St. Peter Senior High, St. Peter Public School District, Saint Peter (Silver)
56. No. 2488 nationally - Open World Learning Secondary St. Paul Public School District, Saint Paul (Silver)
57. No. 2580 nationally - Blackduck Secondary Blackduck Public School District, Blackduck (Silver)
58. No. 2628 nationally - Delano Senior High, Delano Public School District, Delano (Silver)

Bronze medal schools are not ranked by U.S. News.

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:

1. BASIS Scottsdale (AZ)
2. BASIS Chandler (AZ)
3. BASIS Oro Valley (AZ)
4. BASIS Tucson North (AZ)
5. BASIS Flagstaff (AZ)
6. Meridian School (TX)
7. International Academy of Macomb (MI)
8. BASIS Peoria (AZ)
9. Baccalaureate School for Global Education (NY)
10. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)

Click here to see the full rankings and for more insight on the data.

Image via Google Streetview