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

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — After Northern Virginia's competitive governor's school was ranked first among high schools in the nation by U.S. News, it fell in this year's ranking.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology ranks fifth nationally, according to the 2023-2024 Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. It had been ranked first annually since 2020.

Ranked ahead of TJ among the nation's top schools are the Early College at Guilford in North Carolina, Signature School in Indiana, School for Advanced Studies in Florida, and the Davidson Academy of Nevada in Nevada.

U.S. News managing editor for education Liana Loewus told WTOP "very small shifts in assessment data" caused the change in the ranking for TJ.

U.S. News used assessment data from 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, which accounts for a pandemic pause in testing, as reported by WTOP. That data came from before students were chosen under the new admissions policy implemented by the Fairfax County School Board, a move that has drawn a divide among families and a lawsuit from opposed families.

TJ was still ranked the top school in the nation in the charter schools category and fourth among STEM schools. It is ranked the top high school 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. 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 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.