CLEVELAND — U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday released its rankings of the best public high schools in America, and while none of Northeast Ohio's institutions cracked the national top 200, several are receiving praise for their overall performance.
The publication ranked Solon High School as the No. 1 public high school in the region, also sixth in the state and 227th in the county (out of more than 25,000). The school scored a 98.72 out of a possible 100 on U.S. News' system, which factors in:
- Advanced Placement exams
- Math, reading, and science proficiency
- Performance of underserved students
- Graduation rate
Solon was buoyed by top 15 state rankings in college readiness (No. 9), college curriculum breadth (No. 14), state test proficiency (No. 7), and overall state test scores (No. 14). The school also has a graduation rate north of 95%.
"I think a lot of the success that we have is related to our focus on every student, every day," Superintendent Fred Bolden told 3News. "Our teachers are focused on what do we need to do to help our students better achieve."
Not far behind Solon was Rocky River, slotted No. 8 in Ohio and No. 288 in the United States with a 98.37 score. The school's proficiency rating was actually higher than Solon at fourth in the Buckeye State.
"There's a culture here where academics are a priority and expectations are high," Principal Dr. Rob Winton said. "So when you come into school here, you better be ready to learn, and most of our kids are, which is great."
Chagrin Falls (97.65), Aurora (97.2), and Hudson (96.95) were the only other schools in Northeast Ohio to be placed in the state's top 20 (private schools were not studied). Other local high schools scoring above 90 include:
- Revere
- Bay
- Brecksville-Broadview Heights
- Highland
- Kenston
- Cleveland Early College High School (John Hay)
- Avon Lake
- Orange
- West Geauga
- Avon
- Cleveland School of Science and Medicine (John Hay)
- Cuyahoga Heights
- Jackson
- Westlake
- Strongsville
- Beachwood
- North Canton Hoover
- Twinsburg
- Green
- Chardon
Of additional counties in 3News' viewing area not previously covered above, here is each's respective best high school (out of more than 700 in the state):
- Lake: Kirtland (88.07, No. 76 in Ohio)
- Tuscarawas: New Philadelphia (83.47, No. 109 in Ohio)
- Ashtabula: Jefferson Area (81.77, No. 121 in Ohio)
- Wayne: Chippewa (80.16, No. 133 in Ohio)
- Holmes: Hiland (76.58, No. 154 in Ohio)
- Erie: Huron (74.38, No. 165 in Ohio)
- Ashland: Ashland (73.08, No. 173 in Ohio)
- Richland: Ontario (71.91, No. 183 in Ohio)
- Portage: Kent Roosevelt (70.97, No. 188 in Ohio)
- Huron: Norwalk (59.36, No. 269 in Ohio)
- Carroll: Carrollton (54.79, No. 300 in Ohio)
Of Ohio's more than 700 public high schools, U.S. News & World Report did not officially score nearly 250 of them due to a lack of complete data, including several in the Cleveland and Akron districts as well as Canton McKinley. Of the more than 500 that did receive a number, Field High School in Brimfield was last in Northeast Ohio at just 25.84, largely thanks to less than half of students scoring proficient in math along with no AP statistics being listed.
In the Buckeye State, Bexley High School near Columbus took the top spot with a score of 99.32. In the United States, The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, North Carolina, was ranked as the best in the country as the only high school to achieve a perfect score of 100.
