Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson High School drops to 5th in US News best high school rankings

WASHINGTON - The latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of high schools in the United States is out, and after three years at number one, Virginia's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria now ranks fifth.

Public high schools in North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Nevada now rank higher than Thomas Jefferson.

The Virginia high school Is still the number one magnet school in the United States and has moved up two spots to the number four slot in top STEM schools in the country.

U.S. News says it used data from 2018 to 2021, including assessment tests for math, reading and science; the schools' curriculum; graduation rates and how well students perform on AP and IB exams.

The reports Thomas Jefferson's overall score dropped from 100 to 99.7, or a little less than one-third of 1%, because of weaker performances this year on the three state assessment factors.

Thomas Jefferson is still ranked number one in Virginia. The School Without Walls High School in D.C. is number one in the District there and Poolesville High School, part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system, is number one in Maryland.

You can read the FULL 2023-2024 Best High Schools Rankings online.