Ground Picture // Shutterstock
1 / 25#25. Magnificat High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Rocky River, OH
- Enrollment: 695 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Best high schools in the Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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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Mircea Moira // Shutterstock
2 / 25#24. Westlake High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Westlake City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 1,066 (17:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
3 / 25#23. Avon High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Avon Local School District, OH
- Enrollment: 1,456 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
4 / 25#22. Archbishop Hoban High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Akron, OH
- Enrollment: 818 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
5 / 25#21. Lutheran West High School & Middle School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Rocky River, OH
- Enrollment: 679 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
6 / 25#20. Fuchs Mizrachi School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Beachwood, OH
- Enrollment: 426 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
7 / 25#19. Aurora High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Aurora City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 987 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
LStockStudio // Shutterstock
8 / 25#18. St. Edward High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Lakewood, OH
- Enrollment: 867 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
maroke // Shutterstock
9 / 25#17. Beaumont School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Cleveland Heights, OH
- Enrollment: 305 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock
10 / 25#16. Rocky River High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Rocky River City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 855 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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11 / 25#15. Our Lady of the Elms
- School type: Private School
- Location: Akron, OH
- Enrollment: 300 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
12 / 25#14. Hudson High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Hudson City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 1,507 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
13 / 25#13. Beachwood High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Beachwood City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 587 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Daniel Hoz // Shutterstock
14 / 25#12. Chagrin Falls High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Chagrin Falls Exempted Village School District, OH
- Enrollment: 586 (17:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
15 / 25#11. Orange High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Orange City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 608 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
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Studio KIWI // Shutterstock
16 / 25#10. Saint Ignatius High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Cleveland, OH
- Enrollment: 1,415 (12:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
ImageFlow // Shutterstock
17 / 25#9. Gilmour Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: Gates Mills, OH
- Enrollment: 790 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
18 / 25#8. Andrews Osborne Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: Willoughby, OH
- Enrollment: 350 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
panitanphoto // Shutterstock
19 / 25#7. Lake Ridge Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: North Ridgeville, OH
- Enrollment: 400 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
SEALANDSKYPHOTO // Shutterstock
20 / 25#6. Solon High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Solon City School District, OH
- Enrollment: 1,483 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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LStockStudio // Shutterstock
21 / 25#5. Laurel School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Shaker Heights, OH
- Enrollment: 590 (6:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Roman Kosolapov // Shutterstock
22 / 25#4. Hathaway Brown School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Shaker Heights, OH
- Enrollment: 740 (6:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
DenisProduction.com // Shutterstock
23 / 25#3. Hawken School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Gates Mills, OH
- Enrollment: 1,082 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
sirtravelalot // Shutterstock
24 / 25#2. Western Reserve Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: Hudson, OH
- Enrollment: 431 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Joyseulay // Shutterstock
25 / 25#1. University School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Hunting Valley, OH
- Enrollment: 842 (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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