New Ranking Of Long Island's Top 15 Public High Schools Released By U.S. News

LONG ISLAND, NY — Fifteen public high schools on Long Island earned the highest spots in the state in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026-2027 Best High Schools.

U.S. News evaluated about 27,000 eligible public high schools nationwide and ranked nearly 18,000 of them.

Here are the top 15 high schools on Long Island, along with their New York State and national rankings:

1. South Side High School in Rockville Centre — No. 8 in New York, No. 494 nationally
2. North Shore Senior High School in Glen Cove — No. 11 in New York, No. 686 nationally
3. Commack High School in Commack — No. 12 in New York, No. 1,083 nationally
4. Pierson Middle/High School in Sag Harbor — No. 13 in New York, No. 1,304 nationally
5. Locust Valley High School in Locust Valley — No. 14 in New York, No. 1,575
6. Hauppauge High School in Hauppauge — No. 15 in New York, No. 1,683 nationally
7. Northport Senior High School in Northport — No. 18 in New York, No. 2,087 nationally
8. Long Beach Senior High School in Long Beach — No. 26 in New York rankings, No. 2,785 nationally
9. West Islip Senior High School in West Islip — No. 28 in New York, No. 3,013 nationally
10. Bay Shore Senior High School in Bay Shore — No. 38 in New York, No. 3,689 nationally
11. Jericho Senior High School in Jericho — No. 41 in New York, No. 3,959 nationally
12. Great Neck South High School in Great Neck — No. 43 in New York, No. 4,227 nationally
13. Garden City High School in Garden City — No. 48 in New York, No. 4,618 nationally
14. Syosset Senior High School in Syosset — No. 54 in New York, No. 4,955 nationally
15. Manhasset Secondary School in Manhasset — No. 55 in New York, No. 4,962 nationally

The rankings are based on six performance measures, including student achievement on state-required assessments, graduation rates and college readiness.

U.S. News also considers how well schools serve underserved students, participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, curriculum breadth and overall student outcomes.

The rankings use data from the 2023-2024 school year and were produced with research firm RTI International.

Massachusetts had the largest share of high schools ranked in the top 25 percent nationally, at 47 percent, followed by New Jersey at 44 percent and Maryland at 43 percent.

Among metropolitan areas with a significant number of ranked schools, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, had the largest share in the national top quarter, at 60 percent. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, followed at 59 percent, and Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin, at 56 percent.

Central Magnet School in Tennessee topped the national ranking, followed by Signature School in Indiana and Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Pennsylvania.

Signature School also ranked first among charter schools. High Technology High School in New Jersey ranked first among STEM high schools.

The full rankings are available at U.S. News & World Report.