U.S. News, which regularly ranks public high schools across the country, has named Darien High School the best in the state and ranks it 150th in the nation, citing the high participation rate in advanced placement classes at the school.
DHS also ranked 49th in STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics education) in the nation.
Darien High School
Darien High School
“Darien High School is ranked first within Connecticut,” U.S. News said in its high school rankings feature, just published.
The magazine said that 74% of the high school’s students take advanced placement courses and exams. The magazine noted that only 2% of DHS students are economically disadvantaged, and total minority enrollment is 11%. A total of 98% of the school’s 1,354 students go on to college, U.S. News reported.
Schools in the magazine’s survey “are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college,” the report said.
The top 10 schools in Connecticut, according to the magazine, are:
2. Weston High School
3. Achievement First Hartford Academy Inc.
4. Ridgefield High School
5. Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy (East Hartford)
7. Staples High School (in Westport) / New Canaan High School
8. Simsbury High School
9. Wilton High School
10. Academy of Aerospace and Engineering (located in Windsor and run by the Capitol Region Education Council)
Here are some other rankings of schools near Darien:
In Stamford: The Academy of Information Technology (41), Westhill (70), Stamford (91), Stamford Academy (164th to 206th), J.M. Wright Technical (unranked)
In Norwalk: Brien McMahon (81), Center for Global Studies (97), Norwalk (98)
Greenwich High School was ranked 14th highest in the state.
Most of the high schools the state has grouped in District Reference Group A, deemed similar to Darien in students’ social and economic background and resources, are in the top 10 list already mentioned:
Weston (2), Ridgefield (4), New Canaan (6), Westport (Staples High School, 7), Wilton (9), Redding-Easton (Joel Barlow High School, 18).
Toping the nationwide rankings is Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, South Carolina.