How Virginia, DC Schools Are Ranked On Best Schools List

ASHBURN, VA—With the 2017-18 school year only a month away from kicking off across Virginia and DC, students and their parents can see how their particular school district stacks up against others in the state as Niche.com has released its annual rankings of best schools and school districts in the country.

To arrive at the 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 rankings varied with some factors having a higher weight for certain categories over others. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The 2018 rankings released this month rank elementary, middle and high schools as well as school districts. Virginia high schools did moderately well, and Arlington Public Schools ranking in the top 100 on Niche's Best School Districts nationwide list, and a few schools made the top tiers of Best Public High Schools In America. However, DC did not rank in the top 100.

Best school districts

In the best school district rankings, Virginia listings include:

• 1. Arlington Public Schools
• 2. Loudoun County Public Schools
• 4. Falls Church City Public Schools
• 5. Fairfax County Public Schools
• 11. Alexandria City Public Schools
• 12. Chesapeake Public Schools
• 13. Roanoke County Public Schools
• 14. Virginia Beach City Public Schools
• 17. Stafford County Public Schools
• 27. Prince William County Public Schools
• 30. Richmond County Public Schools

View Niche's full list here.

Best public elementary schools

No Virginia or DC schools made the top 25 public elementary school rankings, but Arlington and Fairfax Counties dominated the top 25 elementary schools in the state.

The top 10 include:

• 1. Haycock Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 2. Westbriar Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 3. Mosby Woods Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 4. Willow Springs Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 5. Spring Hill Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 6. Mantua Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 7. Canterbury Woods Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 8. Forestville Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 9. Churchill Road Elementary School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 10. McKinley Elementary School: Arlington Public Schools

Top schools in DC include:

• 1. Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School
• 2. DC Preparatory Academy Public Charter School - Edgewood
• 3. Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School
• 4. Roots Public Charter School
• 5. Two Rivers Public Charter Elementary School

View the full Niche best elementary school rankings here.

Best public middle schools

No Virginia or DC public schools ranked among the top 25 best middle schools. But 15 of the Virginia's schools and two DC schools received an A+ rating.

The top 10 in the state are:

• 1. Carson Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 2. Frost Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 3. Swanson Middle School: Arlington Public Schools
• 4. Kilmer Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 5. Franklin Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 6. Rocky Road Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 7. Cooper Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 8. J. Michael Lunsford Middle School: Loudoun County Public Schools
• 9. Thoreau Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 10. Liberty Middle School: Fairfax County Public Schools

Top schools in DC include:

• 1. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
• 2. BASIS DC Public Charter School
• 3. DC Preparatory Academy Public Charter School - Edgewood
• 4. Achievement Prep Wahler Place Middle School
• 5. Washington Latin Public Charter School

See the best middle school rankings here.

Best public high schools

Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology ranked fourth on Niche's Top 25 Best High Schools In America. Richmond's Maggie Walker Governor's School ranked 23rd. In addition, 26 of the Virginia's schools and one DC school received an A+ rating. None of DC's schools made the top 25.

The state's top 10 includes:

• 1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 2. Maggie Walker Governor's School: Richmond
• 3. Langley High School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 4. McLean High School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 5. Chantilly High School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 6. Washington Lee High School: Arlington Public Schools
• 7. Stone Bridge High School: Loudoun County Public Schools
• 8. Oakton High School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 9. Woodson High School: Fairfax County Public Schools
• 10. Madison High School: Fairfax County Public Schools

DC's top high schools include:

• 1. School Without Walls High School
• 2. Washington Latin Public Charter School
• 3. Woodrow Wilson High School
• 4. Benjamin Banneker Academic High School
• 5. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School - Kansas Avenue

View Niche's full public high school rankings here.

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