(WPRI) — Nearly a dozen Rhode Island high schools and more than 100 Massachusetts high schools were recognized in U.S. News’ 2018 edition of Best High Schools.
Of the more than 20,500 high schools across the U.S., approximately 5,950 made the ranking of best schools.
Classical High School is the number one, top-rated school in Rhode Island and earned a gold medal in the U.S. News ranking. At number 281, Classical ranks within the top five percent of schools within the ranking.
In all, 11 Rhode Island high schools were included in the best schools ranking. They are listed below, in order of their ranking within the state of Rhode Island :
1. Classical High School, Providence: gold medal, #281 nationally
2. Barrington High School: gold medal, #316 nationally
3. Chariho High School, Richmond: silver medal, #2151 nationally
4. North Smithfield High School: silver medal, #2152 nationally
5. Paul Cuffee Charter School, Providence: silver medal, #2341 nationally
6. Mount Hope High School, Bristol: silver medal, #2651 nationally
7. Beacon Charter School, Woonsocket: bronze medal, nationally recognized
8. Blackstone Academy Charter, Pawtucket: bronze medal, nationally recognized
9. Blackstone Valley Prep High School, Cumberland: bronze medal, nationally recognized
10. Johnston Senior High School: bronze medal, nationally recognized
11. West Warwick High School: bronze medal, nationally recognized
Of the 345 high school in Massachusetts, 113 schools were recognized in the report, including the following six in Bristol County.
1. Seekonk High School: silver medal, #1562 nationally, #68 statewide
2. Global Learning Charter Public School, New Bedford: silver medal, #1677 nationally, #72 statewide
3. Attleboro High School: silver medal, #1707 nationally, #73 statewide
4. Joseph Case High School, Swansea: silver medal, #2643 nationally, #91 statewide
5. City on a Hill Charter Public School, New Bedford: bronze medal, nationally recognized
6. Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, Fall River: bronze medal, nationally recognized.
According to the U.S. news site, medals are awarded to the top 500 schools, while silver medals are awarded to lower-ranked, but still high-performing schools, based on college preparedness. Bronze medals are given to schools that perform well in standardized testing.
Other factors that influence a school’s ranking include students exceeding expectations within their state, performance of minority and historically underserved students, graduation rates over 80 percent, and level of preparedness for college coursework.