19 Long Island high schools ranked among best in the country by U.S. News & World Report

Nineteen public Long Island high schools are among the nation's 1,000 best, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual list released Tuesday.

Leading the local list is Jericho High School, which ranked 109th, moving up from last year's 147th place, cementing the status of the Nassau County school — with an enrollment of about 1,200 — as a frequent top honoree. Results of the nation's "Best High Schools" were under embargo until 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. 

This year’s “Best High Schools” edition ranked nearly 18,000 public high schools at the national, state and local level.

Along with Jericho, 13 other Nassau County high schools ranked in the top 1,000 — many having made the list in prior years. They are: Great Neck South High School (195), Garden City High School (214), Manhasset High School (215), Herricks High School (327), Syosset High School (328), North Shore High School (Glen Head) (406), Roslyn High School (415), The Wheatley School (Old Westbury) (474), Great Neck North High School (503), Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School (691), John F. Kennedy High School (Bellmore) (712), Paul D. Schreiber High School (Port Washington) (733) and Bethpage High School (973).

In Suffolk County, five made the top 1,000: Cold Spring Harbor High School (298), Half Hollow Hills High School East (Dix Hills) (392), Harborfields High School (Greenlawn) (564), Half Hollow Hills High School West (Dix Hills) (759) and Elwood-John H. Glenn High School (944).

The methodology focused on six factors: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates. College readiness specifically measured participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams. Underserved student performance focused on students who are Black, Hispanic, or from low-income households. For the first time, science proficiency and performance was also incorporated into the methodology for states without available science-assessment data.

In addition, while the six indicators that determined each school’s rank were the same as those used in the three prior years, U.S. News adjusted its calculation to account for the COVID-19 pandemic. With most states closing schools for in-person instruction in March 2020 — typically just before most states conduct assessments — the U.S. Department of Education granted waivers allowing all states to forego testing for the 2019-2020 school year. The 2022 Best High Schools rankings can be compared with the previous evaluations from 2021, 2020 and 2019 since the methodology is only slightly changed from the previous three years, according to U.S. News.

In contrast to state assessments, ranking factors pertaining to graduation rates and college readiness this year incorporated 2019-2020 data.

Nationally, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, ranked first. Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, ranked 19th, was the top New York State school on the latest list.

Last year, 20 Long Island high schools ranked among the top 1,000, with Jericho leading the list. School officials could not be contacted before the release of the list Tuesday. Jericho high school students often take top honors in many national academic and science competitions. On the district's website, officials said Jericho High School prides itself on offering a complete program, from academics to extracurriculars to personal support.

In September, Jericho was among six on the Island to be named a "Blue Ribbon School" by the U.S. Department of Education, which recognize the high school as an "Exemplary High Performing School."

Jericho also made the top 100 of U.S. News & World Report's 2022 ranking of STEM schools nationwide, coming in at 88th. Manhasset High School was the other local school that cracked the top 100 STEM schools nationwide, coming in at 78th. U.S. News looked at the top 1,000 public schools from the Best High Schools rankings, and then evaluated their students' participation and success in Advanced Placement science and math tests.

"Looking at factors like graduation rates and underserved student performance, families can use this information to learn more about their local schools," Eric Brooks, principal data analyst at U.S. News, said of the 2022 rankings.

By Joie Tyrrell

joie.tyrrell@newsday.com@JoieTyrrell

Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.