Niche Ranks Patchogue's Best Schools For 2020

PATCHOGUE, NY — Patchogue-Medford High School has been ranked among the top high schools in the state, according to new rankings released Monday by Niche. The school received an "A-" grade from the company. South Ocean Middle School and Saxton Middle School, meanwhile, received respectable "B" grades.

Here are the best schools in the Patchogue area and their rankings:

• Patchogue-Medford High School — 266th ranked public high school in the state.
• South Ocean Middle School — 469th ranked public middle school in the state.
• Saxton Middle School — 534th ranked public middle school in the state.

River and Bay elementary schools both received "B-" grades and were not ranked. Medford Elementary School received a "C+" grade.

Pat-Med notably was also ranked the 473rd best high school for science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the state.

Furthermore, several schools in the Bayport-Blue Point Union Free School District were also listed among the best overall in the state. That includes James Wilson Young Middle School and Bayport-Blue Point High School, which both earned "A" grades. James Wilson was the 186th ranked public middle school in the state and Bayport-Blue Point was the 175th ranked public high school.

Niche looked at more than 94,000 public schools, 4,100 private schools and nearly 11,000 school districts across the country. The rankings are meant to help parents and students find schools that best fit their needs.

“Unlike traditional school rankings, which rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance, Niche’s rankings provide a real-life view of what it’s like to attend a given school,” the company said in a news release.

Comments from current students, alumni, and parents are included in the analysis, as well as observations about things like campus life, extracurricular activities, sports options, diversity, and programs for gifted and special needs students.

“Parents and students need more than test-score data,” Luke Skurman, CEO at Niche, said in the news release. “They need to understand what it’s really like to attend a school before they start the application or registration process.”

For the first time, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, were ranked the top private and public high schools, respectively, in the nation.

2020 top public high schools:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology
2. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
3. Walter Payton College Prep
4. Stuyvesant High School
5. Bergen County Academies

2020 top private high schools

1. Phillips Exeter Academy
2. St. Mark’s School of Texas
3. Phillips Academy
4. The College Preparatory School
5. Trinity School