Walnut Creek High Schools Slip In U.S. News Rankings

WALNUT CREEK, CA — Both Las Lomas and Northgate high schools are ranked lower compared to other California schools this year than in 2021, according to a new report by U.S. News and World Report.

Out of more than 1,600 California high schools ranked in the report, Northgate is No. 164, down from 144 a year ago and 1,129 in national ratings. Las Lomas is No. 213 in the state, down from 175 last year, and 1,503 in the national ranking.

U.S. News noted, "Northgate High School is ranked 164th within California. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams. The AP participation rate at Northgate High School is 62%. The total minority enrollment is 49%, and 11% of students are economically disadvantaged."

This year schools were ranked on six measures: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment performance, state assessment proficiency, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance and graduation rates.

The data used in this year’s ranking is from the 2019-20 academic school year. U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact COVID-19 had on schools in the 2019-20 school year.

Since most states closed schools for in-person instruction starting in March 2020 — typically just before most states conduct assessments — the U.S. Department of Education granted waivers allowing all states to forgo state testing for the 2019-20 school year.

To account for this, U.S. News relied on past assessment data from the three prior ranking years. Researchers also incorporated state science assessment data from the 2018-19 school year.

Read more about the Best High Schools methodology.

In addition to the national rankings, U.S. News also published rankings at the state, metro area and school district levels. Only metro areas and school districts with three or more high schools were included in these subrankings.

The 2022 ranking of best high schools was released Tuesday.