Best Pennsylvania High Schools In America, 2017: U.S. News And World Report

U.S. News and World Report has crunched the numbers for 2017, releasing its annual list of best public high schools in the country on Tuesday and ranking the schools on a national and a state level. Pennsylvania has a number of schools that are among the nation's best.

Indeed, Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Philadelphia and New Hope-Solebury High School in New Hope top the list of the best high schools in Pennsylvania, and rank among the best nationally (see list below).

The 2017 rankings of best high schools identify the top-performing public schools at both the national and the state level and include date on more than 20,000 high schools. To be considered among the best, high schools had to pass a rigorous four-step process that sought to determine whether a school was serving all of its students and not just those who are college bound.

Here are those steps:

• The first step determined whether students at a particular school were performing better than statistically expected for students in that state, factoring in percentages of economically disadvantaged students to identify schools.
• Schools that passed this step then moved on to step two, which assessed whether disadvantaged students performed at or better than state averages for the least-advantaged students.
• For the next two steps, U.S. News looked at graduation rates and college readiness performance. To pass step three, high schools had to have a graduation rate of 75 percent or greater. For the 2017 rankings, the graduation rate reflect students who entered the ninth grade in the 2011-2012 school year.
• Finally, U.S. News calculated a college readiness index, which was the number of 12th graders who took and passed at least one AP test, divided by the number of 12th graders at that school. To be ranked numerically nationally, schools had to pass steps 1-3 and have a college readiness index of 20.91 or above.

A total of 6,041 schools were ranked, 500 schools receiving gold medals, 2,109 schools receiving silver medals and the remaining 3,432 schools received bronze medals. Schools that received bronze medals passed the first three steps but were not ranked numerically in the national rankings.

The state rankings were based on whether a high school received a gold, silver or a bronze medal and had a CRI value of 10 or higher. Previously, only gold and silver medal winners were ranked numerically on the state level.

Here is the list of the top schools in Pennsylvania, and how they rank nationally:

1. Julia R. Masterman Secondary School, Philadelphia (#51 in National Rankings)
2. New Hope-Solebury High School, New Hope (#303 in National Rankings)
3. Conestoga High School, Berwyn (#306 in National Rankings)
4. Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, Erie (#374 in National Rankings)
5. Unionville High School, Kennett Square (#399 in National Rankings)
6. Radnor High School, Radnor (#432 in National Rankings)
7. Pine-Richland High School, Gibsonia (#501 in National Rankings)
8. Strath Haven High School, Wallingford (#508 in National Rankings)
9. Lower Moreland High School, Huntingdon Valley (#532 in National Rankings)
10. Great Valley High School, Malvern (#563 in National Rankings
11. Mt Lebanon High School, Pittsburgh (#638 in National Rankings)
12. Upper Saint Clair High School, Pittsburgh (#666 in National Rankings)
13. Lower Merion High School, Lower Merion (680 in National Rankings),>
14. ,>North Allegheny High School, Wexford (#708 in National Rankings)
15. Council Rock High School North, Newtown (#709 in National Rankings)
16. Hampton High School, Hampton Township (#768 in National Rankings)
17. Perkiomen Valley High School, Collegeville (#777 in National Rankings)
18. Central High School, Philadelphia (#791 in National Rankings)
19. Hershey High School, Hershey (#808 in National Rankings)
20. South Fayette Township High School, Mcdonald (#843 in National Rankings)
21. Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12, Pittsburgh (#845 in National Rankings)
22. Wissahickon High School, Wissahickon (#853 in National Rankings) ,>
23. ,>Peters Twp High School, Mcmurray (#903 in National Rankings)
24. Harriton High School, Rosemont (#904 in National Rankings)
25. Central Bucks High School-West, Doylestown (#1028 in National Rankings)
26. Penn Manor High School, Millersville (#1049 in National Rankings)
27. Methacton High School, Eagleville (#1062 in National Rankings)
28. Penncrest High School, Media (#1091 in National Rankings)
29. Fox Chapel Area High School, Pittsburgh (#29 in Pennsylvania Rankings)
30. Souderton Area High School, Souderton (#1147 in National Rankings)
31. Academy at Palumbo, Philadelphia (#1197 in National Rankings Academy)
32. Central Bucks High School-East, Doylestown (#1207 in National Rankings)
33. Abington Heights High School, Clarks Summit (#1327 in National Rankings)
34. Spring-Ford Senior High School, Royersford (#1387 in National Rankings)
35. Danville Area High School, Danville (#1395 in National Rankings)
36. Mast Community Charter School, Philadelphia (#1399 in National Rankings)
37. Haverford High School, Havertown (#1424 in National Rankings)
38. Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School, Plymouth Meeting (#1456 in National Rankings)
39. Manheim Twp High School, Lancaster (#1532 in National Rankings)
40. Central Bucks High School-South, Warrington (#1566 in National Rankings)
41. Avon Grove High School, West Grove (#1583 in National Rankings)
42. Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh (#1586 in National Rankings)
43. West Chester East High School, West Chester (#1588 in National Rankings)
44. West Chester Bayard Rustin High School, West Chester (#1600 in National Rankings)
45. Kennett High School, Kennett Square (#1602 in National Rankings)
46. Pequea Valley High School, Kinzers (#1605 in National Rankings)
47. Montgomery High School, Montgomery (#1642 in National Rankings)
48. Downingtown High School West Campus, Downingtown (#1647 in National Rankings)
49. Abington High School, Abington (#1680 in National Rankings) ,>
50. ,>North Penn High School, LansdalE (#1686 in National Rankings)
51. Wilson Area High School, Easton (#1697 in National Rankings)
52. Creative and Performing Arts, Philadelphia (#52 in Pennsylvania Rankings)
53. Upper Merion High School, King Of Prussia (#1727 in National Rankings)
54. Northeast Bradford Junior/Senior High School, Rome (#1740 in National Rankings)
55. State College Area High School, State College (#1767 in National Rankings)
56. Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills (#1810 in National Rankings)
57. Cocalico Senior High School, Denver (#1842 in National Rankings)
58. Mars Area High School, Mars (#1843 in National Rankings)
59. Lampeter-Strasburg High School, Lampeter (#1863 in National Rankings)
60. Quakertown Community High School, Quakertown (#1884 in National Rankings)
61. Ridley High School, Folsom (#1990 in National Rankings)
62. Neshaminy High School, Langhorne (#2022 in National Rankings)
63. North Pocono High School, Covington Twp (#2070 in National Rankings)
64. Carver High School, Philadelphia (#2071 in National Rankings)
65. Girard Academic Music Program, Philadelphia (#2097 in National Rankings)
66. Ridgway Area High School, Ridgway (#2111 in National Rankings)
67. Pennridge High School, Perkasie (#2150 in National Rankings)
68. Northeastern High School, Manchester (#2201 in National Rankings)
69. Moon High School, Moon Township (#2222 in National Rankings)
70. Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, Pittsburgh (#2230 in National Rankings)
71. Motivation High School, Philadelphia (#2257 in National Rankings)
72. Greater Latrobe High School, Latrobe (#2306 in National Rankings)
73. Bradford Area High School, Bradford (#2333 in National Rankings)
74. Hughesville Junior/Senior High School, Hughesville (#2366 in National Rankings)
75. Gettysburg Area High School, Gettysburg (#2382 in National Rankings)
76. Beaver Area Senior High School, Beaver (#2413 in National Rankings)
77. Shenango High School, New Castle (#2417 in National Rankings)
78. Midd-West High School, Middleburg (#2443 in National Rankings)
79. Girls High School, Philadelphia (#2481 in National Rankings)
80. Wallenpaupack Area High School, Hawley (#2498 in National Rankings)
81. Mastery Charter School - Thomas Campus, Philadelphia (#2507 in National Rankings)
82. Franklin Learning Center, Philadelphia (#2516 in National Rankings)
83. Ligonier Valley High School, Ligonier (#2554 in National Rankings)
84. Palmyra Area Senior High School, Palmyra (#2575 in National Rankings)
85. Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia
86. York Suburban Senior High School, York
87. Gateway Senior High School, Monroeville
88. Keystone Oaks High School, Pittsburgh
89. Fairview High School, Fairview
90. Bensalem Twp High School, Bensalem
91. New Foundations Charter School, Philadelphia
92. Troy Area Junior/Senior High School, Troy
93. West Shamokin Junior/Senior High School, Rural Valley
94. Western Wayne High School, Lake Ariel
95. Norristown Area High School, Norristown
96. Punxsutawney Area High School, Punxsutawney
97. Keystone Junior/Senior High School, Knox
98. Pottsville Area High School, Pottsville
99. Muncy Junior/Senior High School, Muncy
100. Hempfield Senior High School, Landisville

See the national list here.