The Best School Districts In The Hudson Valley For 2018: Niche

WHITE PLAINS, NY — As the 2017-18 school year kicks off, parents and students heading to their first day of school can see how their district stacks up against others in the state and across the country. Niche.com has released its annual rankings of best schools and school districts. In New York's top 100 for 2018, there are 38 Hudson Valley districts, including White Plains.

According to Niche, the best school district in the country is the Solon City School District in Solon, Ohio. With an overall Niche grade of A+, the district received a grade of A+ in academics, teachers, clubs and activities, college prep and health and safety. In the category of diversity, Niche awarded the school district an A-.

Edgemont and its next-door-neighbor Scarsdale were on the list of Top 50 school districts in America, barely: Edgemont ranked No. 48 and Scarsdale No. 49. (Get Patch’s daily newsletter, news alerts and updates. )

White Plains came it at No. 49 in New York. The district received an overall Niche grade of A.

Find out how your district ranks in the state and the country — click here and look it up.

To arrive at its rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data and ratings collected from Niche users. The methodology for each category of ranking varied. (Click here for more information on how Niche calculates its rankings.)

Niche assigns a standardized score for each factor, which is then weighted before an overall score is calculated for each school district. The overall scores are again standardized, and some districts are disqualified from receiving a final letter grade if there isn’t enough data. School districts are then ranked numerically and assigned grades.

According to Niche, these are the best school districts in the country:

1. Solon City School District, Solon, Ohio (Overall Niche grade of A+)
2. Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, Wayne, Pennsylvania (Overall Niche grade of A+)
3. Radnor Township School District, Wayne, Pennsylvania (Overall Niche grade of A+)
4. School District of Clayton, Clayton, Missouri (Overall Niche grade of A+)
5. Dublin City School District, Dublin, Ohio (Overall Niche grade of A+)
6. South Texas Independent School District, Mercedes, Texas (Overall Niche grade of A+)
7. Eanes Independent School District, Austin, Texas (Overall Niche grade of A+)
8. Wellesley Public Schools, Wellesley, Massachusetts (Overall Niche grade of A+)
9. Indian Hill Exempted Village School District, Cincinnati, Ohio (Overall Niche grade of A+)
10. Lexington Public Schools, Lexington, Massachusetts (Overall Niche grade of A+)

Niche’s data for its K-12 school district rankings comes from various sources including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection. The rankings also rely on data that is self-reported by Niche users and schools. (Click here to learn more about where Niche’s data comes from.)

Here are the Hudson Valley districts in New York's Top 100 (the lowest overall grade is an A):

• Edgemont No. 5
• Scarsdale No. 6
• Rye Neck No. 10
• Rye City No. 11
• Briarcliff Manor No. 12
• Bronxville No. 13
• Byram Hills No. 14
• Hastings-on-Hudson No. 16
• Ardsley No. 20
• Pelham No. 22
• Chappaqua No. 24
• Ramapo Central No. 26
• Katonah-Lewisboro No. 28
• Mamaroneck No. 31
• Bedford No. 38
• Irvington No. 40
• Harrison No. 42
• Pleasantville No. 43
• Blind Brook No. 44
• White Plains No. 49
• Eastchester No. 52
• Yorktown No. 54
• Dobbs Ferry No. 56
• Croton-Harmon No. 57
• North Salem No. 62
• Nyack No. 68
• South Orangetown No. 71
• Haldane No. 73
• Tarrytowns No. 76
• Cornwall No. 77
• Clarkstown No. 78
• Spackenkill No. 79
• Arlington No. 85
• Somers No. 86
• Nanuet No. 89
• Tuckahoe No. 92
• New Rochelle No. 94
• New Paltz No. 95

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

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