How Did Bridgeport's High Schools Fare In U.S. News' 2022 Rankings?

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Bridgeport's Biotechnology Research & Zoological Sciences magnet school is the district's best high school, according to a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report.

U.S. News ranked 165 public high schools in Connecticut, and the magnet school came in at No. 134 statewide. Aerospace/Hydrospace Engineering and Physical Sciences High School is the city's next best, at No. 146 statewide.

Central High School was ranked No. 158 in Connecticut, and Information Technology and Software Engineering High School was ranked No. 160.

Bassick High School, Bridgeport Military Academy and Warren Harding High School were unranked, and their Connecticut rankings are listed as "No. 166-200."

Links to more information on each school's ranking can be found here.

This year, U.S. News ranked more than 17,800 schools nationwide — including 165 in Connecticut.

Read more: These Connecticut High Schools Are Among 2022's Best: U.S. News

The 2022 ranking of best high schools is intended to show how well the nation's public schools serve all students, regardless of achievement level, by teaching them basic skills and preparing them for college-level work, according to a news release from U.S. News.

Families can also use the rankings to see how schools compare at the national, state and local levels on factors such as graduation rates and college readiness.

No Connecticut school cracked U.S. News' Top 100, but the state's highest-ranked school, Darien High School, made it to No. 191 nationally.

This year, the top 15 schools nationally are in 14 different states.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, was ranked No. 1 in the nation, as well as among magnet schools.

Here are the top 10 schools in this year's national Best High Schools ranking:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Alexandria, Virginia
2. Academic Magnet High School - North Charleston, South Carolina
3. Signature School - Evansville, Indiana
4. School for Advanced Studies - Miami, Florida
5. Payton College Preparatory High School - Chicago, Illinois
6. The Davidson Academy of Nevada - Reno, Nevada
7. Central Magnet School - Murfreesboro, Tennessee
8. The School for the Talented and Gifted - Dallas, Texas
9. Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology - Lawrenceville, Georgia
10. Julia R. Masterman Secondary School - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This year's 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.