has released rankings of over 17,000 public high schools from across the country, examining criteria including grades, diversity and college access. And one school in Pennsylvania broke into the top 5 schools in the nation.
Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Philadelphia took fourth place nationwide, following BASIS Peoria in Peoria, Ariz., in first, Signature School in Evansville, Ill., in second (both charter schools), and Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, Wash., in third.
“A great high school educates all of its students from different social and economic backgrounds, exposing them to challenging coursework on the path to graduation,” reads U.S. News’ explanation of its scoring metrics. “The highest ranked U.S. public schools in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best High Schools rankings are those whose students demonstrated outstanding outcomes above expectations in math, reading and science state assessments, earned qualifying scores on an array of college-level exams, and graduated in high proportions.”