The 50 Best High Schools In Pennsylvania, According To U.S. News

U.S. News & World Report has just released its annual list of best high schools in the country, and five in Pennsylvania were named gold medal schools. One hundred and two Pennsylvania schools received a silver medal, and 109 more got a bronze.

The 2018 best high school rankings, released on Wednesday, evaluate over 20,500 public high schools. U.S. News identified schools that best serve all students and assessed how prepared students are for college-level work. Schools are also recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals with gold indicating the greatest level of college readiness.

“Top-ranked schools succeed in three main areas: exceeding expectations on state proficiency tests, offering challenging coursework and graduating their students,” Anita Narayan, managing editor of education at U.S. News, said in a press release.

Here are the top 50 Pennsylvania high schools ranked by U.S. News:

1. Downingtown STEM Academy, Downingtown (Gold)
2. Julia R. Masterman Secondary School, Philadelphia (Gold)
3. Radnor High School, Radnor (Gold)
4. Conestoga High School, Berwyn (Gold)
5. New Hope-Solebury High School, New Hope (Gold)
6. Lower Moreland High School, Huntington Valley (Silver)
7. Strath Haven High School, Wallingford (Silver)
8. Unionville High School, Kennett Square (Silver)
9. Perkiomen Valley High School, Collegeville (Silver)
10. Quaker Valley High School, Leetsdale (Silver)
11. Pine-Richland High School, Gibsonia (Silver)
12. Hershey High School, Hershey (Silver)
13. North Allegheny High School, Wexford (Silver)
14. Great Valley High School, Malvern (Silver)
15. Lower Merion High School, Ardmore (Silver)
16. Upper Saint Clair High School, Pittsburgh (Silver)
17. Harriton High School, Rosemont (Silver)
18. Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, Erie (Silver)
19. Council Rock High School North, Newtown (Silver)
20. Hampton High School, Allison Park (Silver)
21. Central High School, Philadelphia (Silver)
22. Wissahickon High School, Ambler (Silver)
23. Central Bucks High School-East, Doylestown (Silver)
24. Mt Lebanon High School, Pittsburgh (Silver)
25. Peters Twp High School, McMurray (Silver)
26. Obama Academy, Pittsburgh (Silver)
27. Methacton High School, Eagleville (Silver)
28. Upper Dublin High School, Fort Washington (Silver)
29. West Chester Henderson High School, West Chester (Silver)
30. Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12, Pittsburgh (Silver)
31. Abington High School, Abington (Silver)
32. Central Columbia Senior High School, Bloomsburg (Silver)
33. Fox Chapel Area High School, Pittsburgh (Silver)
34. Wilson High School, West Lawn (Silver)
35. South Fayette Township High School, McDonald (Silver)
36. Penn Manor High School, Millersville (Silver)
37. Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg (Silver)
38. Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School, Plymouth Meeting (Silver)
39. Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills (Silver)
40. Kennett High School, Kennett Square (Silver)
41. Spring-Ford Senior High School, Royersford (Silver)
42. Camp Hill Senior High School, Camp Hill (Silver)
43. Council Rock High School South, Holland (Silver)
44. Danville Area High School, Danville (Silver)
45. Lewisburg High School, Lewisburg (Silver)
46. Lehigh Valley Charter High School, Bethlehem (Silver)
47. Academy at Palumbo, Philadelphia
48. Penncrest High School, Media (Silver)
49. Delaware Valley High School, Milford (Silver)
50. Abington Heights High School, Clarks Summit (Silver)

U.S. News also ranked the states. Pennsylvania, where 15.8 percent of schools received a gold or silver medal, tied with Ohio for 14th place in that rating. The state-by-state performance rating was based on which states have the highest the highest proportion of schools with gold and silver medals. Massachusetts was the leading performer, followed by California and Maryland.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News teamed up with the social science research firm RTI International. A variety of data sources, including the Common Core of Data, College Board and the International Baccalaureate, were used.

A four-step process was used to rank all eligible schools. The first two steps were to determine whether students were performing better than statistically expected in the state and whether minority were performing at or better than the state average for minority students, which was the second step.

The third step required schools to meet or surpass a certain graduation benchmark. The final step was to determine college readiness. (You can read the full methodology here.)

The top 10 high schools in the U.S. overall are:

1. BASIS Scottsdale (AZ)
2. BASIS Chandler (AZ)
3. BASIS Oro Valley (AZ)
4. BASIS Tucson North (AZ)
5. BASIS Flagstaff (AZ)
6. Meridian School (TX)
7. International Academy of Macomb (MI)
8. BASIS Peoria (AZ)
9. Baccalaureate School for Global Education (NY)
10. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)

Click here to see the full rankings and for more insight on the data.

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