These Are The Best School Districts In PA, New Ranking Says

PENNSYLVANIA — The Radnor Township School District has been ranked as the best in Pennsylvania in Niche’s 2024 Best Schools and Districts rankings, which was released this week.

The Delaware County-based district was among 390 Pennsylvania school districts included in Niche’s ranking of 12,192 school districts nationwide. The list includes 364 newly ranked school districts.

Niche gave the Radnor Township district a letter grade of A+. Grades in specific categories were:

Academics: A+
Teachers: A+
Clubs and activities: A+
Sports: A+
Resources and facilities: B+
Diversity: B-
College prep: A+
Administration: A+
Food: A+

The school district, which has 3,601 students in five buildings, received high marks from students, parents and teachers.

"Radnor has been an amazing experience for me," a student wrote in January 2021. "The teachers are absolutely incredible and are always willing to help students go the extra mile! Through my time at Radnor Elementary, Radnor Middle, and Radnor High School, I can say I’ve always been excited to go to school and learn. The school is academically challenging, and provides resources and activities for everyone. I love Radnor and I am so grateful for such an exceptional education through the school district!"

For more information, read the full report on the Radnor Township School District.

The top 25 school districts in Pennsylvania and the letter grades assigned by Niche include:

1. Radnor Township School District, Wayne: A+
2. Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, Wayne: A+
3. North Allegheny School District, Pittsburgh: A+
4. Lower Merion School District, Ardmore: A+
5. Mt. Lebanon School District, Pittsburgh: A+
6. Upper St. Clair School District, Pittsburgh: A+
7. Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh: A+
8. South Fayette Township School District, McDonald: A+
9. Derry Township School District, Hershey: A+
10. State College Area School District, State College: A+
11. Colonial School District, Plymouth Meeting: A+
12. Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, Wallingford: A+
13. Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Kennett Square: A+
14. Spring-Ford Area School District, Royersford: A+
15. Wissahickon School District, Ambler: A+
16. Garnet Valley School District, Glen Mills: A+
17. Hampton Township School District, Allison Park: A+
18. Springfield School District, Springfield: A+
19. Peters Township School District, McMurray: A+
20. West Chester Area School District, Exton: A+
21. Downington Area School District, Downington: A
22. School District of Upper Dublin, Maple Glen: A
23. Central Bucks School District, Doylestown: A
24. New Hope-Solebury School District, New Hope: A
25. Quaker Valley School District, Leetsdale: A

The Niche.com rankings, which have come out for the past nine years, compare K-12 schools and districts across the United States. The website combines input from current students, alumni and parents with hard data from sources including the U.S. Department of Education.

Niche also ranked 94,058 public schools and 30,809 private schools. The platform said its rankings were created to provide families with valuable information — both quantitative and qualitative — on schools in their area or in a neighborhood they’re not familiar with yet. It also includes a list of the best high schools by state, which Patch highlighted on Tuesday.

The rankings differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.

A major change this year is that SAT and ACT-related factors have been removed from the K-12 rankings, said Niche.

Related article: These Are The Top 25 Public High Schools In PA, New Rankings Say

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