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1 / 25#25. Idaho Fine Arts Academy
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 266 (17:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Best high schools in the Boise 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 Boise 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. Rocky Mountain High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,917 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
3 / 25#23. Borah Senior High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Boise School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,289 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
ImageFlow // Shutterstock
4 / 25#22. Capital Senior High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Boise School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,220 (17:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
5 / 25#21. Mountain View High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 2,462 (22:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
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6 / 25#20. Centennial High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,931 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
panitanphoto // Shutterstock
7 / 25#19. Eagle High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,802 (22:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
8 / 25#18. Marsing High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Marsing Joint School District, ID
- Enrollment: 229 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
maroke // Shutterstock
9 / 25#17. The Ambrose School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Meridian, ID
- Enrollment: 594 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Joyseulay // Shutterstock
10 / 25#16. Vision Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Caldwell, ID
- Enrollment: 751 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
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11 / 25#15. Gem Prep: Nampa
- School type: Public School
- Location: Nampa, ID
- Enrollment: 574 (25:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
Roman Kosolapov // Shutterstock
12 / 25#14. North Star Public Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Eagle, ID
- Enrollment: 958 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
13 / 25#13. One Stone
- School type: Private School
- Location: Boise, ID
- Enrollment: 126 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
panitanphoto // Shutterstock
14 / 25#12. Compass Public Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Meridian, ID
- Enrollment: 1,250 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
LStockStudio // Shutterstock
15 / 25#11. Victory Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Nampa, ID
- Enrollment: 379 (22:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
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16 / 25#10. Thomas Jefferson Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Caldwell, ID
- Enrollment: 366 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
SEALANDSKYPHOTO // Shutterstock
17 / 25#9. Timberline High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Boise School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,398 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Studio KIWI // Shutterstock
18 / 25#8. Liberty Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Nampa, ID
- Enrollment: 393 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
19 / 25#7. Sage International School Boise
- School type: Public School
- Location: Boise, ID
- Enrollment: 1,078 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Achira22 // Shutterstock
20 / 25#6. Meridian Technical Charter High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 205 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock
21 / 25#5. Bishop Kelly High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Boise, ID
- Enrollment: 967 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
22 / 25#4. Boise Senior High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Boise School District, ID
- Enrollment: 1,588 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Anna Jurkovska // Shutterstock
23 / 25#3. Meridian Medical Arts Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 194 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
24 / 25#2. Renaissance High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: West Ada School District, ID
- Enrollment: 658 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
25 / 25#1. Riverstone International School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Boise, ID
- Enrollment: 420 (7:1 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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