20 N.H. Schools Among America's Best In 2018: U.S. News

Twenty New Hampshire high schools received recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 rankings of best high schools in the country, with one being touted among the very best. Nashua's Academy for Science and Design received the state's only 'gold' ranking, placing in the top 300 nationwide.

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.

The Nashua school received a gold medal, 16 other N.H. schools received a silver medal, and three received a bronze medal.

New Hampshire's performance was rated ninth compared to other states with 18.7 percent of the state's schools getting gold or silver. 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 at 25.7 percent.

“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 New Hampshire's schools finished according to place and medal in the 2018 rankings:

1. Academy for Science and Design (ASD) (296) GOLD
2. Hopkinton High School (717) SILVER
3. Windham High School (771) SILVER
4. Moultonborough Academy (975) SILVER
5. Hollis-Brookline High School (1,067) SILVER
6. Oyster River High School (1,526) SILVER
7. Souhegan High School (1,589) SILVER
8. Bow High School (1,812) SILVER
9. Exeter High School (1,891) SILVER
10. Winnacunnet High School (2,010) SILVER
11. Hanover High School (2,031) SILVER
12. Portsmouth High School (2,061) SILVER
13. Lin-Wood Public School (2,088) SILVER
14. Bedford High School (2,173) SILVER
15. Inter-Lakes High School (2,321) SILVER
16. Plymouth Regional High School (2,544) SILVER
17. Kennett High School (2,711) SILVER
18. Hillsboro-Deering High School BRONZE

Unranked

• North Country Charter Academy BRONZE
• Sunapee Sr. High School BRONZE

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.

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