10 local high schools, including three in Baton Rouge, secure top 25 tops in Louisiana rankings

BATON ROUGE — Ten local high schools have made it onto the list of the top 25 schools in the state, according to a new ranking released by US News & World Report.

Haynes Academy School for Advanced Studies in Metairie, ranked as the top public high school in the state and 49th nationally. Following closely is another Jefferson Parish School, Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, which ranks 89th nationally.

In the Baton Rouge region, Baton Rouge Magnet High School takes the lead, ranking fourth in the state and 167th nationally. Additionally, LSU Laboratory School and Liberty Magnet, formerly Lee High, secured spots in the top 10, coming in at seventh and 10th, respectively.

Baton Rouge boasts three schools in the top 10 of Louisiana’s high schools, as per the published rankings.

Livingston Parish sees three schools break into the top 25, with Holden High School leading at 13th, followed by Live Oak High at 15th and Springfield at 25th.

In Ascension Parish, two schools make the top 25: Dutchtown High School at 12th and St. Amant High at 17th.

Further down the list, Zachary High School claims the 16th spot, while West Feliciana High secures 20th place.

The local schools ranking in the top 25 in Louisiana are as follows:

• 4. Baton Rouge Magnet High (Scorecard: 99.05)
• 7. LSU Lab School (Scorecard: 96.87)
• 10. Liberty Magnet (Scorecard: 94.96)
• 12. Dutchtown High School (Scorecard: 93.14)
• 13. Holden High School (Scorecard: 91.99)
• 15. Live Oak High School (Scorecard: 90.18)
• 16. Zachary High School (Scorecard: 89.6)
• 17. St. Amant High School (Scorecard: 89.09)
• 20. West Feliciana High School (Scorecard: 86.41)
• 25. Springfield High School (Scorecard: 84.71)

Other local schools that rank in the top 100 in Louisiana include Walker High at 32nd, Albany High at 35th, Central High at 36th, Southern University Lab at 41st, East Ascension High at 43rd, Doyle High at 47th, Maurepas at 54th, French Settlement High at 55th, Brusly High at 56th, East Iberville at 58th, Denham Springs High at 59th, Madison Preparatory Academy at 74th, Slaughter Community Charter at 77th, and Port Allen High at 84th.

MORE: Every high school in Louisiana ranked

U.S. News assesses public high schools based on college readiness, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.

The top 100 high schools are located across 26 states and the District of Columbia, according to the 2024 U.S. News Best High Schools national rankings, with 62% concentrated in Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Arizona and Florida each have 12 schools in the top 100, tied for the most of any state. 

A Look at the Methodology

The 2024 Best High Schools rankings are determined by evaluating six key factors:

• College readiness, based on the proportion of 12th-grade students who took and earned a qualifying score on at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam (30% of ranking).
• State assessment proficiency, based on aggregated scores on state assessments that students may be required to pass for graduation (20%).
• State assessment performance, based on whether performance on state assessments exceeded expectations given the school’s proportion of underserved students (20%).
• Underserved student performance, based on how Black, Hispanic and low-income students performed on state assessments compared with those who are not underserved in the state (10%).
• College curriculum breadth, based on proportions of 12th-grade students who took and earned a qualifying score on AP and/or IB exams in multiple content areas (10%).
• Graduation rate, based on the proportion of students who entered ninth grade in 2018-2019 and graduated four years later (10%).

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