One Georgia high school has climbed the list of the Top 10 high schools in the country, and a number of other Georgia high schools have some bragging rights to share as well.
The U.S. News & World Report's Best High Schools rankings include data on more than 23,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Of those 23,000 schools, 17,245 were ranked on six factors based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, math and reading proficiency, math and reading performance, underserved student performance, and graduation rate.
Here’s which Georgia schools were deemed the best based on U.S. News’ data:
No. 1: GSMST
Georgia has 416 schools on the list, with the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology finishing No. 1 in the state and No. 6 nationwide and No. 21 in STEM high schools.
GSMST scored 99.97 overall. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams, U.S. News cited, and the AP participation rate is 100%. The total minority enrollment is 80%, and 34% of students are economically disadvantaged.
No. 2 Columbus High School
Columbus High School finished No. 2 in Georgia and No. 85 nationally, with a score of 99.51.
The AP participation rate at Columbus High School is 96%. The total minority enrollment is 45%, and 21% of students are economically disadvantaged.
No. 3 Davidson Magnet School
No. 3 in Georgia was Davidson Magnet School in Augusta, with a score of 99.38. Davidson finished No. 107 in U.S. ranking and No. 30 in magnet high schools.
The AP participation rate at Davidson Magnet School is 91%. The total minority enrollment is 56%, and 97% of students are economically disadvantaged.
» These are the top 10 public, private high schools in Georgia, according to Niche.
Rounding out the top five are metro Atlanta schools.
No. 4: Walton High School
At No. 4 is Walton High School in Marietta, with an overall score of 99.07. Walton also was ranked No. 161 in the nation, No. 42 in charter schools and No. 99 in STEM schools.
The AP participation rate at Walton is 71%. The total minority enrollment is 32%, and 4% of students are economically disadvantaged.
No. 5: Northview High School
Northview High School in Johns Creek is No. 5 in Georgia, with a score of 98.69 overall. Northview finished No. 226 nationwide and No. 94 in STEM schools.
The AP participation rate at Northview High School is 71%. The total minority enrollment is 70%, and 7% of students are economically disadvantaged.
» Niche ranks 2 Georgia public high schools in top 100 in US
No. 6: Lambert High School
We head Forsyth County for the No. 6 school in Georgia, which is Lambert High School in Suwanee. With an overall score of 98.67, Lambert ranked No. 229 nationwide.
The AP participation rate at Lambert High School is 71%. The total minority enrollment is 34%, and 4% of students are economically disadvantaged.
No.7: Savannah Arts Academy
With an overall score of 98.66, Savannah Arts Academy finished No. 7 in the state and No. 231 in the country.
The Advanced Placement participation rate at Savannah Arts Academy is 100%. The total minority enrollment is 32%, and 11% of students are economically disadvantaged.
The final three schools in the Top 10 are all in metro Atlanta.
No. 8: DeKalb School of the Arts
DeKalb School of the Arts scored 98.48 overall, putting it at No. 8 in the state and No. 262 nationwide.
The AP participation rateis 90%. The total minority enrollment is 68%, and 22% of students are economically disadvantaged.
No. 9: Chattahoochee High School
Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta ranked No. 9 in Georgia, with an overall score of 98.37. It finished No. 282 in the nation and No. 151 in STEM high schools.
The AP participation rate at Chattahoochee High School is 71%. The total minority enrollment is 52%, and 11% of students are economically disadvantaged.
No. 10: Lassiter High School
Finishing the Top 10 list is Lassiter High School in Marietta, with a score of 98.12. Lassiter was No. 324 nationwide.
The AP participation rate at Lassiter High School is 65%. The total minority enrollment is 27%, and 9% of students are economically disadvantaged.
U.S. News & World Report changed its methodology for the 2019, so many schools’ rankings changed significantly. In previous years, schools were ineligible to be ranked if they came up short on state assessments or graduation rates.
Now, however, "the revamped Best High Schools methodology enables users to more easily understand why some schools place ahead of others. Each school's rank is linked to a single overall zero to 100 score instead of a labyrinthine filtering process that perplexed readers." You can read more about how the rankings were determined here.
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