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1 / 25#25. Steinbrenner High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Hillsborough County Public Schools, FL
- Enrollment: 2,475 (24:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Best high schools in the Tampa metro area
According to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 15.5 million students attend public high school every year, and more than 3.76 million are expected to graduate in 2025. However, those students have a wide variety of experiences over the course of their high school careers.
To start, issues surrounding equal educational access persist throughout the United States. A January 2025 report published in Frontiers found that disparities across socioeconomic status, race, gender, and geography can lead to negative outcomes and the perpetuation of systemic barriers.
Outside of these issues, students also pursue many different paths within high school. Roughly 8.3 million high schoolers attend educational programs to prepare for careers in fields like transportation, landscaping, and culinary arts. Meanwhile, nearly 2.5 million are in dual enrollment programs that offer high school and college credit for the same course, allowing students to get a jump on higher education degrees.
Dual enrollment programs are particularly useful considering that more than 3 in 5 (61%) high school graduates head to college, per a 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Unfortunately, high school doesn't always guarantee college success. In 2024, the average SAT score declined for the third straight year, and nearly 2 in 5 (39%) test-takers met or exceeded the test's college readiness benchmarks. ACT scores are also on the decline year over year, down to 19.4 out of 36, and just 3 in 10 students met at least three of the ACT's college readiness benchmarks.
With that said, attending a quality high school will typically help prepare students for their next steps in life, whether that's college, technical school, or going straight into the workforce. Stacker compiled a list of the best high schools in the Tampa metro area using data from Niche, which uses seven weighted factors for its rankings. Most 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.
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2 / 25#24. Saddlebrook Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
- Enrollment: 97 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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3 / 25#23. Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Hillsborough County Public Schools, FL
- Enrollment: 602 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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4 / 25#22. Tampa Catholic High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 728 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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5 / 25#21. Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Spring Hill, FL
- Enrollment: 350 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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6 / 25#20. Sickles High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Hillsborough County Public Schools, FL
- Enrollment: 2,368 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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7 / 25#19. Plant High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Hillsborough County Public Schools, FL
- Enrollment: 2,507 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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8 / 25#18. Calvary Christian High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Clearwater, FL
- Enrollment: 840 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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9 / 25#17. Admiral Farragut Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
- Enrollment: 506 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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10 / 25#16. Bayshore Christian School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 287 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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11 / 25#15. Genesis Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: New Port Richey, FL
- Enrollment: 38 (4:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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12 / 25#14. St. Petersburg Catholic High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: St Petersburg, FL
- Enrollment: 465 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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13 / 25#13. Clearwater Central Catholic High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Clearwater, FL
- Enrollment: 583 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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14 / 25#12. Lee Academy for Gifted Education
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 59 (4:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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15 / 25#11. American Youth Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 1,165 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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16 / 25#10. Academy of the Holy Names
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 994 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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17 / 25#9. Jesuit High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 846 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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18 / 25#8. Cambridge Christian School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 982 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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19 / 25#7. Academy at the Lakes
- School type: Private School
- Location: Land O Lakes, FL
- Enrollment: 540 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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20 / 25#6. St. Petersburg Collegiate High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Pinellas County Schools, FL
- Enrollment: 240 (48:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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21 / 25#5. Universal Academy of Florida
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 832 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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22 / 25#4. Shorecrest Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
- Enrollment: 1,039 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock
23 / 25#3. Tampa Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 710 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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24 / 25#2. Carrollwood Day School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 1,269 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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25 / 25#1. Berkeley Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tampa, FL
- Enrollment: 1,430 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 97 metros.
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