This week, U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News) released the 2023-2024 rankings of the best public high schools in the country. Twenty-one charter schools are recognized in the top 100 schools, including Signature School in Evansville, IN (#2), BASIS Peoria in Peoria, AZ (#12), Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science in Albuquerque, NM (#16), and BASIS Scottsdale in Scottsdale, AZ (#20). Although charter schools serve only 6.5% of the nation’s high school students, they account for more than 20% of our nation’s top 100 high schools.
“Charter schools consistently punch above their weight. Although we are only a sliver of the nation’s public high schools, public charter schools have an outsized share of the highest performers,” said Nina Rees, President and CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “We congratulate the leadership and faculty of all the top ranked public high schools in the nation – charter, magnet, and traditional – for providing incredible public education to thousands of students. And we are especially proud of these high-performing charter schools.”
The report ranked 17,680 schools based on criteria including college readiness, state assessment proficiency and performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth, and graduation rate.
Charter Schools in U.S. News’s Top 100 Best Public High Schools
#2: Signature School in Evansville, IN
#12: BASIS Peoria in Peoria, AZ
#16: Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science in Albuquerque, NM
#20: BASIS Scottsdale in Scottsdale, AZ
#21: BASIS Oro Valley in Oro Valley, AZ
#30: BASIS Chandler in Chandler, AZ
#41: Archimedean Upper Conservatory Charter School in Miami, FL
#45: Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, AR
#48: BASIS Ahwatukee in Phoenix, AZ
#51: BASIS Phoenix in Phoenix, AZ
#53: BASIS Tucson North in Tucson, AZ
#57: Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, MA
#62: BASIS Mesa in Mesa, AZ
#67: BASIS Prescott in Prescott, AZ
#71: Preuss School UCSD in La Jolla, CA
#79: University High School Fresno in Fresno, CA
#81: BASIS San Antonio – Shavano Campus in San Antonio, TX
#82: Pacific Collegiate Charter in Santa Cruz, CA
#89: Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans, LA
#96: Academy for Science and Design (ASD) in Nashua, NH
#100: Haas Hall Academy at the Lane in Rogers, AR