TJ Ranking Drops: See VA Schools On U.S. News Top High Schools List

VIRGINIA — Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology remains Virginia's top-ranked school, but it fell in the national ranking of high schools.

Hundreds of public high schools in Virginia were ranked among the 2023-24 Best High Schools, released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. 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.

TJ, an admissions-based governor's school with STEM programs, was ranked fifth among high schools in the U.S. The Fairfax County school had been ranked first for three years since 2020.

"Very small shifts in assessment data" caused the change in the ranking for TJ, U.S. News managing editor for education Liana Loewus told WTOP. According to the news outlet, U.S. News used assessment data from 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, which was before the new admissions policy was used to select incoming freshmen at TJ.

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.

Still, TJ was ranked first in the nation in the magnet schools category and was fourth among STEM schools, two places higher than last year.

Here are the top 100 public high schools in Virginia:

1. (5th nationally) Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Fairfax County

2. (170th nationally) Open High School, Richmond

3. (175th nationally) Richmond Community High School, Richmond

4. 182nd nationally) McLean High School, Fairfax County

5. (213 nationally) Langley High School, Fairfax County

6. (292nd nationally) Oakton High School, Fairfax County

7. (318th nationally) George Mason High School (now named Meridian High School), Falls Church

8. (345th nationally) Yorktown High School, Arlington County

9. (376th nationally) Marshall High School, Fairfax County

10. (486th nationally) W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax County

11. (567th nationally) Deep Run High School, Henrico County

12. (718th nationally) Madison High School, Fairfax County

13. (772nd nationally) Chantilly High School, Fairfax County

14. 781st nationally) Briar Woods High School, Loudoun County

15. (799th nationally) West Springfield High School, Fairfax County

16. (810th nationally) Rock Ridge High School, Loudoun County

17. (811th nationally) Blacksburg High School, Montgomery County

18. (813th nationally) Freedom High School, Loudoun County

19. (814th nationally) Riverside High School, Loudoun County

20. (845th nationally) Washington-Liberty High School, Arlington County

21. (866th nationally) Centreville High School, Fairfax County

22. (887th nationally) Osbourn Park High School, Prince William County

23. (921st nationally) Battlefield High School, Prince William County

24. (977th nationally) Godwin High School, Henrico County

25. (990th nationally) Glen Allen High School, Henrico County

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.