Langley, McLean High Among Best Public High Schools In NoVA: Ranking

MCLEAN, VA — The two high schools in McLean ranked behind only Fairfax County’s magnet school as the top public high schools in Northern Virginia, according to a new ranking.

Langley High School and McLean High School ranked No. 2 and No. 3, behind Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Northern Virginia Magazine’s ranking of the top 25 high schools in the region.

Here are the top 10 public high schools in Northern Virginia Magazine's ranking:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
2. Langley High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
3. McLean High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
4. Freedom High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
5. Oakton High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
6. Madison High School, Fairfax County Public Schools
7. Rock Ridge High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
8. Meridian High School, Falls Church City Public Schools
9. Lightridge High School, Loudoun County Public Schools
10. Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax County Public Schools

Northern Virginia Magazine’s editorial team used data from the 2021–2022 school year reported to the Virginia Department of Education, the most recently available date at the time the rankings were produced.

To determine the top 25 public high schools in Northern Virginia, the magazine looked at a number of factors deemed most important: the percentage of students who earned advanced diplomas, graduation rates, chronic absentee rates, Standards of Learning test pass advanced rates for math and reading, and combined AP/IB enrollment rates for all of the four-year public high schools in Northern Virginia.

Here's how Langley High School scored:

• 2021–2022 Total Enrollment: 2,049
• Class of 2022 Total Students: 476
• 2021–2022 SOL Math Pass Advanced Rate: 24.81%
• 2021–2022 SOL Reading Pass Advanced Rate: 55.73%
• 2021–2022 AP/IB Combined Enrollment Rate: 48.12%
• 2021–2022 Chronic Absenteeism Rate: 9.06%
• Class of 2022 On-Time Graduation Rate: 99.4%
• 2022 Rate of Advanced Diplomas: 87.61%

Here's how McLean High School scored:

• 2021–2022 Total Enrollment: 2,368
• Class of 2022 Total Students: 560
• 2021–2022 SOL Math Pass Advanced Rate: 20.81%
• 2021–2022 SOL Reading Pass Advanced Rate: 52.4%
• 2021–2022 AP/IB Combined Enrollment Rate: 47.64%
• 2021–2022 Chronic Absenteeism Rate: 11.93%
• Class of 2022 On-Time Graduation Rate: 98.6%
• 2022 Rate of Advanced Diplomas: 84.74%

High schools from the following school systems were considered: Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County and Fairfax City, Falls Church, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, Manassas City, Manassas Park, Prince William County, and Stafford County.

The list was then weighted based on how many times each school appeared in the top 25 for each of these categories. Northern Virginia Magazine then took the average of each school’s placement in each category to determine its final ranking.

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