Best Schools: How Tucson Schools Ranked In 2022 Niche List

TUCSON, AZ — The latest school rankings released by the data analysis company Niche offer a look at how K-12 schools in the state and in Tucson compare with each other.

Two of the top five school districts in the state are in the Tucson area.

Niche, which released its eighth annual version of the rankings on Monday, looks at a variety of criteria in determining a grade for both public and private K-12 schools in Tucson and across the state, including academics, teachers and diversity.

Here are the top five school districts in the state:

1. Heritage Academy in Mesa, A+
2. Catalina Foothills Unified School District in Tucson, A+
3. Chandler Unified School District, A
4. Vail Unified School District, A
5. Scottsdale Unified School District, A

Here are the top 10 individual schools in the Tucson area:

1. Basis Oro Valley, public charter middle/high school, A+
2. Basis Tucson North, public charter middle/high school, A+
3. University High School, Tucson Unified School District, A+
4. The Gregory School in Tucson, private middle/high school, A+
5. Basis Oro Valley Primary, public charter school, A+
6. Jack Thorman Air & Space Academy & Performing Arts Studio, public charter K-8 school in Green Valley, A+
7. Basis Tucson Primary School, public charter school, A+
8. The Montessori Schoolhouse, public charter elementary school, A+
9. Hermosa Montessori School, public charter elementary/middle school, A+
10. Catalina Foothills High School, Catalina Foothills Unified School District, A+

Niche said its 2022 best schools rankings offer a more “personal” view of schools than its rankings in recent years. Significantly less importance was placed on SAT and ACT scores this year, Niche said. Any factor in its methodology that is related to test scores was reduced by one third.

The company combined ratings from students, alumni and parents with quantitative data from the U.S. Department of Education and other sources to evaluate teachers, resources, facility, extracurricular activity opportunities and other factors. Read more about the methodology here.

Across the country, Niche ranked 94,491 public schools, 2,489 private schools and 11,846 school districts to come up with its lists and rankings.

Top 5 Public High Schools:

1. The Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada
2. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
3. Massachusetts Academy for Math & Science School
4. Maggie Walker Governor’s School in Virginia
5. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Virginia

Top 5 Private High Schools:

1. Phillips Academy in Massachusetts
2. The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut
3. Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut
4. The College Preparatory School in California
5. Groton School in Massachusetts

Top 5 School Districts:

1. Adlai E. Stevenson High School District in Illinois
2. Glenbrook High School District in Illinois
3. Great Neck Public Schools in New York
4. Community High School District 128 in Illinois
5. Jericho Union Free School District in New York

See the full Niche rankings here