When it comes to the top public high schools in Illinois, several in the Naperville area make the list, according to new annual rankings released by U.S. News and World Report.
The top overall spot in the state went to Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago, while Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora ranked the highest in the suburban Chicago area at No. 6.
Here’s a look at Naperville-area schools that made the top 50 in the state and where they placed on the list.
High ratings for schools in Districts 203, 204
- Neuqua Valley High School — 12th
- Naperville Central High School — 22nd
- Naperville North High School — 26th
- Metea Valley High School — 32nd
- Waubonsie Valley High School — 49th
Other schools near Naperville also made the list, including Wheaton North High School in 45th, Lisle High School at 51st, Downers Grove North High School in the 59th spot, Wheaton Warrenville South High School in 69th, Oswego East High School at 88th, Bolingbrook High School at 92nd, and Downers Grove South High School in 103rd.
How top schools were ranked
The rating system used by U.S. News and World Report considers a handful of factors to measure how well schools prepare their students for higher education, focus on academics, and offer opportunities to all students.
The system measures college readiness, state assessment proficiency and performance, underserved student performance, breadth of college curriculum accessed by high school students, and each school’s graduation rate. These categories are given various weights and compiled into a composite score for each school.
Schools ranked best 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,” the magazine wrote in an explanation of its scoring methodology.
How local schools stack up nationally
The ranked schools in the Naperville area are among 18,000 that earned rankings, from a pool of roughly 24,000 reviewed across the nation. U.S. News and World Report conducted the review in coordination with RTI International, a nonprofit social science research firm based in North Carolina.
None of the ranked schools in the Naperville area made the top 100 in the country this year. IMSA and Neuqua Valley came closest, earning national ranks of 120th and 340th, respectively. Naperville Central ranked 546th nationally, while Naperville North came in 671st, Metea Valley placed 774th, and Waubonsie Valley ranked 1,229th.
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