Here's Where Woodbridge Ranks On U.S. News 'Best High School' List

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — This week, U.S. News & World Report released its 2022 rankings, listing nearly 24,000 high schools across the nation.

Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college. Here are their high school rankings for the state of New Jersey.

And here's where Woodbridge's three high schools rank (click on the school name to see their full profile):

John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, Iselin: Ranked the best high school in the Woodbridge school district and 116th best in the entire state of New Jersey. At JFK, students:

• 52% Took at Least One AP Exam
• 39% Passed at Least One AP Exam
• 34% Mathematics Proficiency
• 56% Reading Proficiency
• 36% Science Proficiency
• 95% Graduation Rate

Colonia High School, Colonia: Ranked second best in the Woodbridge school district and 258th best in the state of New Jersey. At Colonia:

• 37% Took at Least One AP Exam
• 22% Passed at Least One AP Exam
• 25% Mathematics Proficiency
• 48% Reading Proficiency
• 16% Science Proficiency
• 96% Graduation Rate

Woodbridge High School, Woodbridge proper: Third best in the district, and 297th in the state of New Jersey. At Woodbridge High School, students:

• 38% Took at Least One AP Exam
• 25% Passed at Least One AP Exam
• 15% Mathematics Proficiency
• 43% Reading Proficiency
• 13% Science Proficiency
• 91% Graduation Rate

And the best high schools in New Jersey are actually two magnet high schools in Middlesex County:

Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies in Edison: Ranked #1 best high school in the state of New Jersey, and 23rd best in the nation

Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health in Woodbridge: Ranked #6 best high school in New Jersey, and 69th best in the nation.

Both schools are part of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District, and students have to apply to get in.

Read more: These NJ High Schools Are Among 2022's Best: U.S. News

But, U.S. News & World Report school rankings have their critics. James Fallows, a former U.S. News editor, even called them "meaningless" in an interview with NPR.

"The reason they started doing it back in the early 1980s under the guidance of a man named Mel Elfin, was because it was a brilliant business strategy," Fallows said. "By appealing to the human desire for rankings and knowing where you stand and where somebody else stands, they were able to make a very strong part of their business, which is now basically the only part of their business."

U.S. News, however, contends that the rankings help parents make better-informed decisions about their children's education.

"The goal is to provide a clear, unbiased picture," the report says, "of how well public schools serve all of their students — from the highest to lowest achieving — in preparing them to demonstrate proficiency in basic skills as well as readiness for college-level work."

Ninety percent of the rankings incorporate performances on AP and IB exams and standardized tests, while the remaining 10 percent is the graduation rate. The data used in this year's ranking is from the 2019-20 academic school year. U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact COVID-19 had on schools in the 2019-20 school year.

Read more about the methodology here.

With reporting by Alexis Tarrazi and Josh Bakan.

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