As filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron said during a '96 commencement address at Wellesley College, "Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead." If that's the case, high school may be one of the greatest dress rehearsals of all.
It's a place where students explore their interests, dive into extracurricular activities, finally get the freedom to choose their own classes, and prepare for college or the workplace. For many of these students and their families, public education is key: 49.6 million students enrolled in public pre-K-12 schools in fall 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those, about a third were in high school, enrolled across about 23,500 public secondary schools nationwide.
For many anxious parents, getting their kids into the best of these public high schools is of the utmost importance. Some families even move homes to get into better school districts. However, among all of these thousands of schools, a few stand out for their academic excellence, incredible track records, and the future success of their young students.
Stacker compiled a list of the best public high schools in New York using 2027 rankings from Niche. Niche uses seven weighted factors for its rankings. A majority of the score is based on academics, but other factors include culture and diversity; sports; clubs and activities; resources; and surveys of parents, teachers, and students. You can read more about Niche's methodology here.
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1 / 25#25. Great Neck South High School
- Location: Great Neck Public Schools, NY
- Enrollment: 1,362 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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2 / 25#24. Bard High School Early College Queens
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 24, NY
- Enrollment: 643 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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3 / 25#23. Baccalaureate School for Global Education
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 30, NY
- Enrollment: 523 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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4 / 25#22. Millennium Brooklyn High School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 15, NY
- Enrollment: 682 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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6 / 25#20. Bronxville High School
- Location: Bronxville Union Free School District, NY
- Enrollment: 535 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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7 / 25#19. Pittsford-Mendon High School
- Location: Pittsford Central School District, NY
- Enrollment: 919 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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8 / 25#18. Half Hollow Hills High School East
- Location: Half Hollow Hills Central School District, NY
- Enrollment: 1,407 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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9 / 25#17. Herricks High School
- Location: Herricks Union Free School District, NY
- Enrollment: 1,535 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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10 / 25#16. New Explorations into Science, Technology & Math School
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11 / 25#15. Brooklyn Technical High School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 13, NY
- Enrollment: 5,848 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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12 / 25#14. Eleanor Roosevelt High School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 2, NY
- Enrollment: 538 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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13 / 25#13. Brooklyn Latin School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 14, NY
- Enrollment: 772 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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14 / 25#12. Roslyn High School
- Location: Roslyn Union Free School District, NY
- Enrollment: 1,086 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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15 / 25#11. Manhasset Secondary School
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16 / 25#10. Jericho Senior High School
- Location: Jericho Union Free School District, NY
- Enrollment: 1,260 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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17 / 25#9. Scarsdale Senior High School
- Location: Scarsdale Union Free School District, NY
- Enrollment: 1,479 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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18 / 25#8. High School of American Studies at Lehman College
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 10, NY
- Enrollment: 393 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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19 / 25#7. Syosset Senior High School
- Location: Syosset Central School District, NY
- Enrollment: 2,400 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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20 / 25#6. Half Hollow Hills High School West
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21 / 25#5. Staten Island Technical High School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 31, NY
- Enrollment: 1,425 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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22 / 25#4. Townsend Harris High School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 25, NY
- Enrollment: 1,342 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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23 / 25#3. High School Math Science & Engineering at The City College of New York (CCNY)
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 5, NY
- Enrollment: 576 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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24 / 25#2. Bronx High School of Science
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 10, NY
- Enrollment: 2,953 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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25 / 25#1. Stuyvesant High School
- Location: New York City Geographic District No. 2, NY
- Enrollment: 3,280 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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