U.S. News & World Report: Here's how high schools rank by metro area in Tennessee
Monica KastL&N STEM Academy, Farragut High School and Maryville High School have been named the top high schools in the Knoxville metro area in a recent study by U.S. News & World Report.
This comes shortly after the three schools were ranked high in Tennessee by U.S. News. L&N STEM Academy was ranked No. 11 in the state, Farragut High School No. 15 and Maryville High School No. 20.
This is the first year U.S. News has ranked high schools by metropolitan area. They used the same methodology as the 2019 best high school ranking. Schools were scored on six factors: College readiness, college curriculum breadth, math and reading proficiency, math and reading performance, underserved student performance and graduation rate.
Rankings:U.S News & World Report ranks top high schools in Tennessee, nation
“We’ve heard from students, parents and school officials that they’re interested in seeing how their school compares with others in the community,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News. “With these new rankings, residents in more than 900 metro areas nationwide can see which local schools are succeeding at educating and graduating their students.”
Knoxville schools
There are 46 high schools in the metro Knoxville area, and 39 of the schools were ranked.
Here are U.S. News' top 10 schools in the Knoxville area:
- L&N STEM Academy
- Farragut High School
- Maryville High School
- Oak Ridge High School
- Bearden High School
- Hardin Valley Academy
- West High School
- Lenoir City High School
- Roane County High School
- Halls High School
L&N STEM Academy and Farragut High School stood out for having a 98% graduation rate, which is "well about state median," according to the report. Maryville High School also has a graduation rate above the state median at 95%.
Memphis schools
There are 82 schools in the Memphis metro area, 77 of which were ranked by U.S. News.
The top 10 schools in the Memphis area are:
- Lewisburg High
- Houston High School
- Collierville High School
- White Station High School
- DeSoto Central High School
- Freedom Preparatory Academy
- Hernando High
- Center Hill High
- Arlington High School
- Middle College High School
In Tennessee, several of Memphis' top schools also rank high: Houston High School was ranked No. 10 in the state, Collierville High School was ranked No. 12 and White Station High School was ranked No. 14. Lewisburg High, located in OIive Branch, Mississippi, is the top-ranked high school in Mississippi.
Lewisburg High, Houston High School and Collierville High School all have similar graduation rates: Lewisburg High has a graduation rate of 94%, and Houston High School and Collierville High School have graduation rates of 93%, all above the state median graduation rate.
Nashville schools
There are 95 schools in the Nashville metro area, with 78 schools ranked by U.S. News.
The top 10 schools in the Nashville area are:
- Central Magnet School
- Hume Fogg Magnet High School
- Merrol Hyde Magnet School
- Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School
- Brentwood High School
- Ravenwood High School
- Franklin High School
- Fred J. Page High School
- Centennial High School
- Mt. Juliet High School
Central Magnet School, Hume Fogg Magnet High School, Merrol Hyde Magnet School and Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School are ranked as the top four high schools in Tennessee.
Nationwide, Central Magnet School is ranked the No. 5 high school in the country.
Nine of the top 10 high schools in the Nashville area all have graduation rates above the state median. Central Magnet School, Hume Fogg Magnet High School and Merrol Hyde Magnet School all have graduation rates of 100%.
Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School, Ravenwood High School and Mt. Juliet High School have a 98% graduation rate. Brentwood High School, Franklin High School and Fred J. Page High School have a 97% graduation rate.
Centennial High School has a graduation rate of 93%, which is close to the state median.