U.S. News Best High Schools 2023: How Falls Church Schools Rank

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Falls Church schools are ranked as among the top in the nation and Virginia, according to a top resource for education rankings.

George Mason High School, which is now known as Meridian High School, was ranked seventh in Virginia and 318th nationally, according to the 2023-2024 Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. Marshall High School, which has a Falls Church address in Fairfax County, was ranked ninth in Virginia.

Justice High School was ranked 103rd in Virginia, while Falls Church High School was ranked 117th.

Families can use the annual rankings to compare schools at the national, state and local levels on factors such as academic performance, graduation rates and college readiness, according to a news release. U.S. News reviewed 25,000 schools and ranked 17,680 of them, including 322 in Virginia.

Families can use the annual rankings to compare schools at the national, state and local levels on factors such as academic performance, graduation rates and college readiness, according to a news release.

There were nine Virginia schools in the top 500 nationally— Open Road School in Richmond at 170, Richmond Community High School in Richmond at 175, McLean High School in McLean at 182, Langley High School at 213, Oakton High School in Vienna at 292, George Mason High School (renamed Meridian High School) in Falls Church at 318, Yorktown High School in Arlington at 345, Marshall High School in Falls Church at 376 and W.T. Woodson High School at 486.

In national rankings, the top five schools are, respectively: The Early College at Guilford, Greensboro, North Carolina; Signature School at Evansville, Indiana; The School for Advanced Studies in Miami; The Davidson Academy of Nevada at Reno; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia.

In general, the highest-ranked schools had students who performed well on state assessment for math, reading and science, U.S. News said. They also performed strongly in meeting the needs of underserved students, including those who are Black, Hispanic or from low-income households. The schools had a breadth of curriculum offerings and high graduation rates, and their students performed well on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.

U.S. News said eleven of the top 20 ranked schools were charter or magnet schools.

SEE ALSO: U.S. News Best High Schools 2023: TJ Ranking Falls