U.S. News and World Report has put out its annual “Best High Schools” rankings, with several Naperville area schools moving up in the list this year. Neuqua Valley High School had the highest showing among the Naperville School District 203 and Indian Prairie School District 204 contenders.
Statewide Rankings
For statewide rankings, three Naperville-area public schools made an upward shift from last year. Neuqua Valley High School, which ranked 20th among Illinois high schools in 2021, landed at 17 this time around. Naperville Central High School improved its position from 29th to 24th. And Naperville North High School placed at number 35, up four spots from 2021.
Metea Valley High School held its statewide spot at number 26 for the second year in a row. Waubonsie Valley High School had a slight downward shift, moving to 53, after being at 49 last year.
STEM Spot
Neuqua Valley was the only Naperville high school to make the top schools for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) list. It moved up to the 101 spot nationally, after being 147th in 2021.
National Rankings
Neuqua Valley was also the only of the Naperville area schools to crack the top 500 in the national Best High Schools rankings, earning a spot at 417; a move up of four from last year. Naperville Central came in at 609 in the national list (up seven from 2021); Metea Valley at 627 (down 61 from last year); Naperville North at 732 (up 30 from 2021); and Waubonsie Valley shifted to 1,212 (down 66 from last year).
Factors Considered
U.S. News and World Report creates its rankings using data from nearly 24,000 public high schools across the country. Factors taken into account are college readiness, state assessments in proficiency and performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth, and graduation rate.
Naperville News 17’s Kim Pirc reports.
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