When U.S. News magazine recently came out with its rankings of high schools around the country and in the state, Darien High School came out tied for No. 1 for math and reading proficiency and No. 3 in the overall ranking in Connecticut.
For math and reading proficiency, Darien was tied with the Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Philadelphia as the No. 1 school.
The only two schools in the state that ranked higher: Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy in Hartford, ranked No. 1, and Weston High School. Nationwide, the No. 1 ranked school is Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.
In the U.S. News national rankings, Darien placed 214 out of 17,792 high schools the magazine researched, and in STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) rankings, the school placed 84th.
The magazine also calculates how each school is expected to perform in based on the school’s demographics, calling that “math and reading performance.” Based on that formula, Darien drops to 1,229 nationwide.
Image from U.S. News
From the U.S. News Web page for Darien High School\’s 2020 ranking.
See also: “How U.S. News Calculated the 2020 Best High Schools Rankings”
Also high on the Connecticut list:
4th — Westport’s Staples High School
5th — New Canaan High School
6th — Simsbury High School
7th — Greenwich High School
8th — Hall High School in West Hartford
9th — Ridgefield High School
10th — Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut in Groton
More than 24,000 US public high schools and 207 Connecticut schools were included in the US News & World Report rankings for 2020.
US News & World Report says that they take a holistic approach to evaluating schools, focusing on college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.
— Parts of this article were published in a GreenwichFreePress.com article.