Education

Best high schools 2022: Here’s how Centre County stacks up in US News & World Report rankings

Students hop off the bus wearing masks excited for the first day of school at Wingate Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020.
Students hop off the bus wearing masks excited for the first day of school at Wingate Elementary on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. adrey@centredaily.com

U.S. News & World Report released its 2022 high school ranking list on Tuesday, with many Centre County schools rising in the ranks.

Covering 17,800 public schools around the country, the ranks are based on “college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates,” according to a press release.

State College was the highest-ranking district in Centre County.

The report also published rankings by state, district and metro area alongside separate lists for magnet and charter schools.

“The methodology for identifying the top-ranked Best High Schools was developed with a core principle in mind: that the top schools must serve all students well and must produce measurable academic outcomes that support this mission,” the press release said.

The top ranked school in the country is Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia.

The top school in Pennsylvania this year is Julia R. Masterman Secondary School, located in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania ranked 15th in the country with 27% of eligible high schools in the top 25% of the rankings.

Here’s how Centre County’s public schools stacked up.

State College Area High School

National rank: 1,285 (last year: 1,625)

State rank: 45 (last year: 57)

State College Area High School is ranked in the top 10% of schools nationwide.

Penns Valley Area Junior/Senior High School

National rank: 3,754 (last year: 7,567)

State rank: 150 (last year: 306)

Bald Eagle Area Junior/Senior High School

National rank: 6,067 (last year: 6,223)

State rank: 255 (last year: 252)

Bellefonte Area High School

National rank: 6,854 (last year: 7,235)

State rank: 287 (last year: 295)

Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School

National rank: 11,254 (last year: not ranked)

State rank: 440 (last year: not ranked)

This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 12:15 PM.

D
Keely Doll
Centre Daily Times
Keely Doll is an education reporter and service journalist for the Centre Daily Times. She has previously worked for the Columbia Missourian and The Independent UK.
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