Lower Merion High School Ranked Among Best In PA, Nation

Students in Lower Merion School District are attending one of the best schools in the state, according to a new list released by U.S. News and World Report.

Lower Merion High School is ranked 18th in Pennsylvania, just behind Perkiomen Valley High School in Collegeville. It has also been nationally ranked 899th by the magazine.

U.S. News and World Report evaluated data on 29,070 public high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Some schools were eliminated from consideration because they were too small, bringing the total national number to 19,753.

Schools were ranked nationally in a three-step process. First, U.S. News and World Report evaluated how students performed compared to what is expected of students in the state.

The next step compared disadvantaged students at each school with those in other schools across the state. About 10 percent of Lower Merion’s students are economically disadvantaged, and 24 percent of the total student body is classified as minority.

The final criteria was college readiness, using Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test data as the benchmarks for success, depending on which program was largest at the school.

Lower Merion was about average in Pennsylvania in college readiness, with a 42.3 index. About 47 percent of students took Advanced Placement testing, and 85 percent passed.

About 95 percent was proficient in the language portion of testing, and 92 percent was proficient in mathematics.

Lower Merion’s student to teacher ratio of 11:1 is below the state average. The school has a total of 1,283 students and 117 teachers.

To view Lower Merion’s full profile, click here.