Top 50 VA High Schools For 2022: U.S. News

VIRGINIA — The best school in the state and the nation is again Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, according to a new national ranking by U.S. News and World Report.

This year’s look at the best high schools in the U.S. evaluated more than 17,800 schools nationwide.

The 2022 ranking of best high schools is intended to show how well the nation’s public schools serve all students, regardless of achievement level, by teaching them basic skills and preparing them for college-level work, according to a news release from U.S. News.

Families can also use the rankings to see how schools compare at the national, state and local levels on factors such as graduation rates and college readiness.

These are the top 50 Virginia schools, according to U.S. News:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Fairfax County Public Schools
2. Langley High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
3. McLean High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
4. Open High School, Richmond City Public Schools
5. Marshall High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
6. Oakton High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
7. W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
8. Madison High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
9. Richmond Community High School, Richmond City Public Schools
10. West Springfield High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
11. Chantilly High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
12. Deep Run High School, Henrico County Public Schools
13. George Mason High School, Falls Church City Public Schools
14. Yorktown High School, Arlington County Public Schools
15. Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax County Public Schools
16. Briar Woods High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
17. Lake Braddock Secondary School, Fairfax County Public Schools
18. Blacksburg High School, Montgomery County Public Schools
19. Riverside High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
20. Grassfield High School, Chesapeake City Public Schools
21. Osbourn Park High School, Prince William County Public Schools
22. Washington-Liberty High School, Arlington County Public Schools
23. Battlefield High School, Prince William County Public Schools
24. Cosby High School, Chesterfield County Public Schools
25. Centreville High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
26. Broad Run High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
27. Stone Bridge High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
28. Godwin High School, Henrico County Public Schools
29. Rock Ridge High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
30. Patriot High School, Prince William County Public Schools
31. Freedom High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
32. Hickory High School, Chesapeake City Public Schools
33. Fairfax High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
34. Midlothian High School, Chesterfield County Public Schools
35. John Champe High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
36. Westfield High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
37. Achievable Dream Middle/High School, Newport News City Public Schools
38. Princess Anne High School, VA Beach City Public Schools
39. Ocean Lakes High School, VA Beach City Public Schools
40. Western Albemarle High School, Albemarle County Public Schools
41. Grafton High School, York County Public Schools
42. Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke County Public Schools
43. Glen Allen High School, Henrico County Public Schools
44. Tabb High School, York County Public Schools
45. South County High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
46. Jamestown High School, Williamsburg-James City Public Schools
47. Colonial Forge High School, Stafford County Public Schools
48. Edison High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
49. Cave Spring High School, Roanoke County Public Schools
50. Woodgrove High School, Loudoun County Public Schools

And these are the top 10 schools in the District of Columbia:

1. Benjamin Banneker Academy High School
2. School Without Walls High School
3. BASIS DC
4. McKinley Technology High School
5. Duke Ellington School of the Arts
6. Columbia Heights Eductional Campus
7. Woodrow Wilson High School
8. E L Haynes Public Charter School Kansas Ave. High School
9. Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School
10. Capital City High School Public Charter School

Here are the top 10 schools in this year’s national Best High Schools ranking:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Alexandria, Virginia
2. Academic Magnet High School - North Charleston, South Carolina
3. Signature School - Evansville, Indiana
4. School for Advanced Studies - Miami, Florida
5. Payton College Preparatory High School - Chicago, Illinois
6. The Davidson Academy of Nevada - Reno, Nevada
7. Central Magnet School - Murfreesboro, Tennessee
8. The School for the Talented and Gifted - Dallas, Texas
9. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology - Lawrenceville, Georgia
10. Julia R. Masterman Secondary School - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This year’s schools were ranked on six measures: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment performance, state assessment proficiency, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance and graduation rates.

The data used in this year’s ranking is from the 2019-20 academic school year. U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact COVID-19 had on schools in the 2019-20 school year.

Since most states closed schools for in-person instruction starting in March 2020 — typically just before most states conduct assessments — the U.S. Department of Education granted waivers allowing all states to forgo state testing for the 2019-20 school year.

To account for this, U.S. News relied on past assessment data from the three prior ranking years. Researchers also incorporated state science assessment data from the 2018-19 school year.

Read more about the Best High Schools methodology.

In addition to the national rankings, U.S. News also published rankings at the state, metro area and school district levels. Only metro areas and school districts with three or more high schools were included in these subrankings.

Signature School in Indiana is at the top of the list for charter schools, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia is the No. 1 magnet school. The Davidson Academy of Nevada is the top STEM school.