Darien High School Ranked 9th Best School in CT by US News

More
Darien High School DHS 9-13-16

Darien High School sign at the Noroton Avenue entrance

Download PDF

Darien High School is the ninth best in the state, according to U.S. News, which calls the school a winner of one of its “gold medals.” Nationwide, Darien ranks 410th best, overall.

U.S. News says it comes up with its rankings “based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college.”

The magazine’s 2018 “Best High Schools” survey covers 20,500 public high schools across the country, with rankings for 5,948 of them.

DHS ranks 22nd best nationwide in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math subjects. No other high school in the state ranks in the top 40 nationwide in the magazine’s STEM rankings. Weston High School is ranked No. 48; Westport’s Staples at 70; New Canaan at 74; Wilton at 98.

The AP participation rate at Darien High School is 65 percent, and 92 percent passed. The student body makeup is 52 percent male and 48 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 10 percent. and 2 percent are reported as “economically disadvantaged.

The high school ranked top in Connecticut, out of 215 ranked, is Amistad Academy in New Haven. Here’s the rest of the top 10, with Fairfield County schools in boldface:

2. Connecticut IB Academy — Hartford — ranked 55th nationwide

3. Achievement First Hartford Academy Inc.

4. Academy of Aerospace and Engineering — Windsor

5. Ridgefield High School

6. Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern — Groton

7. Greenwich High School

8. Staples High School — Westport

9. Darien High School

10. Wilton High School

Here’s how other schools near Darien ranked: New Canaan High School (No. 472 nationwide; No. 15 in Connecticut), Weston High School (No. 458 nationwide; No.48 in Connecticut),

Nearby high schools that were unranked: Stamford High School, Stamford Academy, Westhill High SchoolNorwalk High School, and Brien McMahon High School.

SIDEBAR:

Criticism of the U.S. News Rankings

In past years, the U.S. News best high schools rankings frequently have been criticized. Here’s a sample of some past published critiques, which may in part be criticizing aspects of the rankings that have since been changed:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *