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1 / 25#25. Redmond High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Lake Washington School District, WA
- Enrollment: 2,218 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Best high schools in the Seattle 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 Seattle 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. Hyla School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
- Enrollment: 108 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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3 / 25#23. Bishop Blanchet High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 854 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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4 / 25#22. Mercer Island High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Mercer Island School District, WA
- Enrollment: 1,524 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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5 / 25#21. Raisbeck Aviation High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Highline School District, WA
- Enrollment: 405 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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6 / 25#20. Eastlake High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Lake Washington School District, WA
- Enrollment: 2,349 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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7 / 25#19. Northwest Yeshiva High School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Mercer Island, WA
- Enrollment: 65 (3:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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8 / 25#18. Washington Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Bothell, WA
- Enrollment: 70 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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9 / 25#17. Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart
- School type: Private School
- Location: Bellevue, WA
- Enrollment: 300 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
LStockStudio // Shutterstock
10 / 25#16. Eastside Catholic School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Sammamish, WA
- Enrollment: 825 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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11 / 25#15. Seattle Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 720 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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12 / 25#14. International Community School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Lake Washington School District, WA
- Enrollment: 405 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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13 / 25#13. International School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Bellevue School District, WA
- Enrollment: 593 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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14 / 25#12. Newport High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Bellevue School District, WA
- Enrollment: 1,726 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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15 / 25#11. The Northwest School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 452 (7:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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16 / 25#10. The Bush School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 735 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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17 / 25#9. Tesla STEM High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Lake Washington School District, WA
- Enrollment: 609 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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18 / 25#8. Charles Wright Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tacoma, WA
- Enrollment: 575 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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19 / 25#7. Seattle Academy
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 1,255 (5:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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20 / 25#6. The Bear Creek School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Redmond, WA
- Enrollment: 916 (13:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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21 / 25#5. UPrep
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 703 (8:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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22 / 25#4. Annie Wright Schools
- School type: Private School
- Location: Tacoma, WA
- Enrollment: 815 (9:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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23 / 25#3. Lakeside School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Seattle, WA
- Enrollment: 876 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
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24 / 25#2. Eastside Preparatory School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Kirkland, WA
- Enrollment: 516 (10:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A+
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
25 / 25#1. The Overlake School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Redmond, WA
- Enrollment: 554 (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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