District 155 Schools Ranked Among Top 8% In Nation In New Rankings

CRYSTAL LAKE AND CARY, IL —All four District 155 high schools rank among the to 10 percent of the best high schools in the United States, according to a new national ranking by U.S. News and World Report. This year’s list of best high schools evaluated more than 17,800 schools nationwide, including 724 in Illinois.

Of those high schools, Cary-Grove High School ranked the highest: 54th in Illinois and 1,213rd in the U.S., which places it within the top 6.8 percent of all high schools nationwide. Prairie Ridge High School followed as the 55th best state in Illinois and with a ranking of 1,128 in the U.S.

Crystal Lake South High School received a ranking of 66th in Illinois and 1,394th in the U.S.; and Crystal Lake Central High School received a ranking of 83rd in Illinois and 2,026th in the U.S. The average rankings placed all four high schools within the top 8.1 percent of high schools nationwide.

Community Unified School District 300 schools received the following rankings:

• Jacobs High School came in as the 88th best school in Illinois and 2,291st in the U.S.
• Dundee-Crown High School ranked 192nd in the state and 5,812th in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Huntley High School was ranked as the 101st school in the state and 2,676th in the nation.

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.

“We are proud that all four District 155 high schools rank in the top eight percent of high schools nationally. We attribute this achievement to our teachers and staff who believe relationships are the foundation of each student’s success, and our supportive families,” said District 155 superintendent Steve Olson.

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.

While thousands of schools were evaluated, these Illinois schools were ranked among the top 100, according to U.S. News:

• Payton College Preparatory High School
• Northside College Preparatory High School
• Jones College Prep High School
• Young Magnet High School
• Lane Technical High School

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.

Signature School in Indiana is at the top of the list for charter schools, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia is the No. 1 magnet school. The Davidson Academy of Nevada is the top STEM school.