Best Public High Schools in Boston 2016

In our 2016 best schools issue, we explore the pros and cons of charter schools, a hot topic on this year’s ballot. As the fight between the pro-charter and anti-charter faithful reaches a fever pitch, what do the numbers say? For our annual rankings this year, we crunched the numbers on both Boston’s traditional public high schools (shown here) and the area’s charter schools. As always, sort the charts by what matters most to you: class size, student-to-teacher ratio, test scores, and so on. (Methodology and sources below.)

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School	Rank	Enrollment	Avg. Class Size	Student-to-Teacher Ratio	10th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Reading (%)	10th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Math (%)	10th Graders Scoring Proficient or Higher on MCAS Science (%)	Avg. SAT Reading	Avg. SAT Writing	Avg. SAT Math	AP Scoring 3-5 (%)	College Counselors	Varsity Sports Teams	Graduation Rate (%)	Attending College (%)
Dover-Sherborn Regional High School	1	662	13.2	11.7	100	99	99	615	627	628	94.3	4	28	98.0	89.0
Lexington High School	2	2154	19.4	12.6	100	99	98	626	626	656	93.1	11	31	98.8	89.7
Weston High School	3	726	13.7	10.0	99	97	85	600	603	626	88.3	5	31	100.0	86.2
Wayland High School	4	838	16.0	11.8	99	96	96	579	587	620	89.9	7	36	100.0	89.1
Newton South High School	5	1799	14.4	11.6	97	96	90	602	603	625	93.4	11	27	97.3	84.0
Wellesley High School	6	1513	15.6	13.0	99	97	84	607	603	608	96.0	8	34	97.9	86.8
The Bromfield School	7	416	16.3	13.3	100	99	95	588	597	593	85.0	3	20	94.7	90.0
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School	8	1902	19.6	15.2	98	96	96	608	610	636	96.2	9	33	97.7	90.6
Bedford High School	9	859	11.9	11.1	99	90	87	565	555	585	88.9	6	23	97.8	89.5
Winchester High School	10	1220	16.1	14.1	99	98	94	591	587	611	87.9	6	33	97.4	89.1
Sharon High School	11	1139	15.2	12.9	96	93	88	583	579	603	93.5	7	23	96.8	91.1
Concord-Carlisle High School	12	1290	18.0	13.2	99	94	96	580	575	596	94.9	7	22	98.6	90.2
Hingham High School	13	1195	15.6	14.0	98	95	92	577	574	577	97.5	6	34	97.5	91.3
Manchester Essex Regional High School	14	432	13.9	11.1	98	93	90	583	584	590	89.5	3	17	97.4	79.1
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School	15	1602	19.5	12.8	98	95	90	590	586	622	97.3	8	31	98.2	87.6
Needham High School	16	1664	18.0	14.1	99	96	92	580	585	599	91.4	8	34	99.2	91.0
Westwood High School	17	975	16.5	12.9	99	96	96	565	561	579	89.9	5	26	96.8	91.0
Boston Latin School	18	1648	26.0	20.5	100	100	98	636	628	656	83.2	7	27	99.1	92.4
Westborough High School	19	1032	14.5	12.0	97	96	94	561	548	585	93.3	5	28	96.6	87.7
Brookline High School	20	1946	14.6	12.0	98	93	86	589	589	616	92.3	8	30	92.5	84.6
Norwell High School	21	686	15.3	13.3	100	99	95	554	544	562	74.1	4	29	98.8	92.3
Westford Academy	22	1682	19.5	14.9	99	97	94	580	565	603	94.5	8	34	96.9	90.8
Nashoba Regional High School	23	1065	15.3	13.8	99	95	93	557	547	578	86.5	6	26	95.0	89.6
Georgetown High School	24	399	12.6	11.8	98	89	96	531	532	542	95.7	2	17	96.8	88.6
Medfield High School	25	867	17.3	13.3	99	95	90	564	556	576	74.2	5	29	100.0	90.8
Holliston High School	26	809	16.0	12.4	98	95	95	553	549	570	82.1	4	26	94.4	91.2
Lynnfield High School	27	646	16.1	12.0	99	95	95	537	544	562	82.8	3	22	100.0	87.4
Arlington High School	28	1253	14.3	13.1	98	94	87	578	571	583	85.2	5	29	94.5	85.5
Duxbury High School	29	1092	19.6	13.3	100	94	93	553	553	571	83.2	6	33	98.1	92.2
Masconomet Regional High School	30	1274	16.4	14.1	99	94	92	554	547	571	85.7	7	27	96.9	88.9
Hopkinton High School	31	1113	17.7	13.9	99	97	96	557	547	578	83.9	6	15	98.0	87.0
Littleton High School	32	448	15.2	13.7	99	96	91	565	552	557	87.4	2	25	95.3	86.2
Marblehead High School	33	1060	16.9	12.5	98	93	89	568	565	569	82.9	5	30	97.0	86.6
Cohasset High School	34	424	17.9	12.5	100	99	93	557	539	541	83.8	2	28	97.7	87.3
Newton North High School	35	2089	15.8	11.4	96	94	92	587	588	604	93.7	13	33	96.1	83.7
Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School	36	608	16.6	12.0	98	94	90	576	569	568	55.8	4	23	97.5	83.5
Ashland High School	37	739	14.6	14.7	98	97	89	552	523	576	90.0	4	29	92.6	85.5
Belmont High School	38	1245	20.4	16.6	99	97	95	590	584	614	92.0	5	20	96.5	79.4
Swampscott High School	39	700	16.0	11.7	99	91	93	533	525	538	74.2	3	28	96.7	92.5
Ipswich High School	40	538	13.7	11.0	98	90	82	549	536	541	72.4	3	26	96.7	86.0
Newburyport High School	41	780	17.1	12.2	97	91	89	543	553	560	82.8	4	20	96.9	86.5
Reading Memorial High School	42	1271	16.8	14.0	98	91	86	550	547	566	82.9	6	26	96.0	89.8
Andover High School	43	1797	14.2	15.5	98	94	83	568	568	587	80.5	8.5	31	96.7	87.9
Mansfield High School	44	1333	15.0	13.8	98	92	87	537	521	555	86.1	7	27	96.1	87.3
Pentucket Regional High School	45	707	15.2	11.7	97	90	89	538	531	531	72.0	4	22	95.6	88.6
Burlington High School	46	992	14.6	12.5	97	90	79	533	527	550	72.9	7	21	95.7	89.4
Natick High School	47	1513	18.1	14.7	99	93	91	540	532	560	80.1	8	31	97.4	86.2
Franklin High School	48	1729	17.6	14.7	99	92	91	546	534	555	75.3	8	27	96.7	85.9
Walpole High School	49	1172	16.6	14.6	98	92	92	523	507	529	86.2	5	27	96.6	89.3
Foxborough High School	50	843	13.5	12.5	98	90	86	526	526	534	79.8	4	12	97.7	79.1
Millis High School	51	382	14.0	14.5	100	92	90	515	509	522	80.3	2	16	94.8	82.9
Medway High School	52	778	16.7	16.7	99	95	82	545	553	559	78.3	3	28	96.2	84.4
Stoneham High School	53	643	14.4	11.4	98	92	88	506	504	517	68.0	4	26	95.8	83.8
Scituate High School	54	901	17.7	15.1	99	94	78	544	536	554	75.4	4	22	94.4	87.8
North Reading High School	55	801	21.3	12.4	98	89	91	540	527	548	60.0	4	25	97.2	90.1
Wilmington High School	56	878	17.2	12.0	98	92	73	518	506	534	70.7	5	23	95.2	88.6
Boston Latin Academy	57	1172	20.1	17.7	100	100	96	527	519	562	45.5	7	20	94.0	94.6
Wakefield Memorial High School	58	989	15.2	12.1	96	87	83	526	521	535	70.6	5	24	93.4	84.5
North Andover High School	59	1405	18.8	16.0	97	86	89	540	531	543	87.9	6	31	95.5	87.3
Hanover High School	60	808	16.1	13.1	98	92	88	513	497	522	61.0	4	26	97.4	87.1
King Philip Regional High School	61	1335	19.4	16.5	97	89	91	541	535	547	77.7	5	26	97.1	89.3
Amesbury High School	62	616	15.5	14.0	95	87	81	544	542	545	88.2	3	21	90.4	79.6
Braintree High School	63	1580	16.0	14.8	98	93	89	521	518	547	79.7	5	32	93.3	84.7
Marshfield High School	64	1341	18.1	12.3	98	88	81	523	520	521	68.4	6	29	97.1	86.9
Chelmsford High School	65	1509	18.3	13.3	98	95	90	528	513	553	77.3	4	10	94.1	87.9
Milton High School	66	997	17.5	14.8	97	90	86	527	517	538	72.7	5	30	94.0	84.8
Melrose High School	67	948	18.2	14.2	98	88	83	523	509	522	71.2	5	26	96.9	85.9
Canton High School	68	941	17.6	13.3	97	89	86	525	520	541	62.4	4	26	96.5	82.9
Framingham High School	69	2074	16.6	12.0	96	86	86	523	514	551	88.1	8	27	87.4	79.3
Rockport High School	70	303	13.3	10.6	97	83	86	536	503	536	56.1	2	9	91.9	72.1
Triton Regional High School	71	728	14.3	12.2	98	93	85	515	507	539	71.3	3	23	89.6	73.3
Apponequet Regional High School	72	747	19.6	14.8	98	91	78	523	505	523	68.5	5	24	96.1	83.6
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School	73	1864	14.9	10.6	89	85	73	539	529	537	86.7	8	7	93.5	80.9
Norton High School	74	767	18.8	14.0	97	90	90	522	505	537	63.7	4	23	93.8	79.5
Oliver Ames High School	75	1189	19.7	14.9	98	87	70	534	529	536	66.8	5	29	97.6	88.2
Watertown High School	76	700	14.4	10.0	90	82	69	503	498	532	75.6	5	25	89.0	81.5
Danvers High School	77	1020	17.1	13.1	97	86	81	519	508	530	68.0	4	28	95.0	79.0
West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School	78	425	18.1	13.1	97	87	86	506	501	506	52.7	2	21	98.0	84.3
Stoughton High School	79	1044	16.4	11.3	95	81	89	499	493	512	67.1	4	26	94.1	82.2
Hudson High School	80	753	15.6	11.5	90	82	69	524	519	527	67.6	6	17	86.2	85.6
Norwood High School	81	967	13.8	12.7	91	80	80	495	487	498	68.6	5	28	93.0	86.6
North Quincy High School	82	1215	15.9	14.0	91	85	78	477	470	535	82.8	8	23	91.9	83.1
Dedham High School	83	718	15.6	11.1	96	92	90	487	475	511	50.0	4	26	90.1	76.8
Medford High School	84	1138	16.0	12.0	95	86	73	500	496	509	82.0	5	17	86.3	82.4
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School	85	1627	7.9	12.1	95	74	73	505	480	519	67.6	7	24	88.6	76.7
Hull High School	86	324	11.7	10.2	90	80	86	488	476	504	52.3	2	15	92.3	75.0
Carver Middle High School	87	427	15.2	11.7	96	81	55	509	503	523	63.2	5	17	92.3	73.9
Pembroke High School	88	1010	18.6	15.7	94	87	75	518	513	535	57.8	5	28	96.0	79.7
Abington High School	89	451	16.2	11.5	93	89	80	489	476	498	65.7	3	21	92.4	71.6
Silver Lake Regional High School	90	1199	20.3	14.8	97	85	69	517	508	537	73.9	5	26	97.5	75.0
Maynard High School	91	368	15.2	13.0	93	73	56	524	511	509	67.0	3	12	87.8	84.3
Gloucester High School	92	865	14.1	10.8	94	75	74	498	482	502	62.1	4	25	93.0	73.0
Billerica Memorial High School	93	1213	18.6	13.5	94	76	80	512	506	522	67.8	5	27	91.3	79.7
John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science	94	1140	23.9	16.9	100	98	77	488	480	533	40.3	5	12	96.1	89.4
Avon Middle High School	95	191	14.5	10.0	98	77	68	468	473	474	60.7	1	7	86.7	78.3
Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School	96	1528	16.7	16.6	95	83	76	509	504	524	67.6	6	25	92.4	74.5
Quincy High School	97	1465	15.3	13.3	94	74	74	487	472	505	71.9	8	22	91.3	74.8
Bellingham High School	98	547	19.2	14.5	95	80	80	491	469	500	54.8	4	22	98.3	74.1
Beverly High School	99	1296	19.5	14.6	92	80	83	515	506	516	64.8	5	28	93.1	74.4
Woburn High School	100	1356	15.7	13.9	93	81	69	491	475	507	65.3	5	24	91.0	79.9
Saugus High School	101	715	15.5	12.5	90	79	70	495	474	510	58.6	3	23	88.4	81.2
Tewksbury Memorial High School	102	1006	19.7	16.2	96	85	82	508	501	524	65.1	4	26	91.3	72.0
Plymouth South High School	103	1017	13.4	9.2	95	81	83	465	440	479	66.4	5	22	91.8	62.6
East Bridgewater High School	104	639	23.1	16.6	99	89	84	512	506	515	39.6	4	8	92.7	77.3
Milford High School	105	1087	18.0	12.7	93	74	76	488	478	502	58.0	6	27	88.7	80.2
Whitman Hanson Regional School	106	1191	21.3	19.4	96	84	84	495	494	511	64.6	5	26	96.4	73.8
Waltham High School	107	1474	16.4	11.5	90	72	74	478	480	496	74.5	7	24	84.8	73.6
Middleborough High School	108	773	14.7	12.6	92	78	68	491	474	499	67.7	3	24	90.6	66.7
Weymouth High School	109	2003	16.9	14.9	92	77	77	504	486	489	73.6	7	28	89.8	72.7
Plymouth North High School	110	1326	16.3	12.9	95	79	78	483	482	495	60.9	5	22	86.2	70.4
Marlborough High School	111	1093	13.5	11.2	89	77	75	496	479	524	45.0	4	27	81.8	72.3
Salem High School	112	947	14.0	8.7	85	71	63	477	459	481	42.0	6	23	91.5	74.8
Winthrop High School	113	545	18.0	12.9	95	78	77	474	478	491	37.5	2	24	86.6	79.0
Holbrook Junior-Senior High School	114	259	15.4	12.7	100	81	74	453	437	451	29.4	2	9	92.3	66.1
Somerville High School	115	1231	15.2	10.5	88	78	73	470	465	480	57.0	4	25	86.2	69.4
Rockland Senior High School	116	673	17.4	14.4	97	76	58	486	482	505	28.1	4	20	91.8	70.6
New Mission High School	117	319	15.8	10.8	92	85	58	408	390	441	22.4	3	8	98.2	81.0
Taunton High School	118	1848	19.5	16.2	88	77	56	502	483	504	57.0	8	26	92.7	70.0
Revere High School	119	1772	19.5	14.2	91	74	72	428	424	456	59.3	9	24	90.3	75.8
Methuen High School	120	1905	17.6	13.9	90	72	66	471	454	479	36.0	8	27	88.2	74.0
Randolph High School	121	697	14.9	10.9	84	64	57	446	446	466	54.1	3	22	86.1	74.0
Haverhill High School	122	1808	15.7	13.5	86	66	58	491	473	507	54.0	7	33	75.9	69.8
Malden High School	123	1822	18.0	15.8	92	78	67	454	439	497	45.9	6	21	80.4	73.6
Wareham High School	124	543	12.6	10.0	86	64	29	487	474	481	34.4	2	21	86.0	67.7
Another Course to College	125	237	18.1	10.2	91	63	50	399	403	428	31.3	2	5	93.2	77.3
Boston Arts Academy	126	437	14.6	9.3	95	70	54	426	432	424	15.0	2	0	83.2	78.8
Lowell High School	127	3134	18.6	14.6	86	72	56	460	446	483	60.6	3	35	80.3	76.4
Boston Community Leadership Academy	128	506	15.9	10.1	89	69	24	375	389	451	31.5	2	8	90.9	80.6
Fenway High School	129	337	22.4	14.0	92	75	57	403	407	440		2	10	92.5	77.9
Brockton High School	130	4250	20.9	16.7	85	64	60	429	416	438	43.8	24	24	87.7	77.2
Snowden International School at Copley	131	373	17.3	11.1	89	71	58	390	391	392		2	5	71.4	87.7
Mary Lyon Pilot High School	132	131	13.2	7.9	87	47	8	418	395	465	8.3	1	9	84.8	72.4
Math Science and Technology High School	133	436	20.7	14.5	83	68	50	413	395	438	25.4	2	4	89.2	76.3
Everett High School	134	2052	18.1	13.8	88	67	55	428	404	428	30.6	7	11	80.0	66.5
Classical High School	135	1640	20.6	17.3	81	54	45	431	421	456	34.4	6	21	81.0	74.6
Lynn English High School	136	1646	19.0	15.9	77	57	44	450	432	449	35.8	6	21	77.3	69.8
Boston International High School	137	375	13.8	8.8	66	87	47	329	331	364	56.5	3	5	54.8	73.3
Humanities and Leadership Development High School	138	437	16.8	12.7	90	59	25	362	364	379	17.3	2	4	81.8	75.8
Quincy Upper School	139	219	20.1	11.8	81	73	24	415	410	428		1	0	90.9	71.9
TechBoston Academy	140	601	14.7	10.2	82	62	37	355	359	382	32.0	1	9	81.3	72.1
Health and Human Services High School	141	435	16.6	14.9	81	55	30	352	354	393	54.5	2	4	90.6	64.0
Chelsea High School	142	1521	20.4	13.7	80	51	54	425	412	452	35.2	6	7	65.5	69.8
Excel High School	143	519	17.0	11.5	82	63	50	346	352	405	27.8	2	11	67.3	67.3
Business Management and Finance High School	144	409	19.3	14.1	71	51	16	392	372	422	33.3	2	4	86.0	73.9
Performing and Fine Arts High School	145	417	19.0	13.4	73	44	26	387	370	369	26.7	2	4	88.3	78.0
Urban Science Academy	146	497	12.9	11.2	78	53	26	397	371	404	23.3	2	5	60.3	62.4
The English High School	147	586	13.7	8.0	84	65	25	343	342	367	7.8	2	10	52.3	61.1
East Boston High School	148	1495	17.2	14.3	77	54	32	395	399	426	14.9	9	11	64.1	55.3
Charlestown High School	149	958	16.1	11.0	62	55	34	349	355	441	33.3	4	4	50.9	70.2
Jeremiah E. Burke High School	150	532	16.1	15.2	70	67	55	332	336	373	1.1	2	11	71.1	52.9
West Roxbury Academy	151	529	17.2	11.6	71	41	20	365	361	382	1.2	2	11	64.1	65.7
Brighton High School	152	931	17.5	12.1	64	38	19	374	369	409	4.7	3	12	61.1	72.8
Madison Park High School	153	903	12.2	8.0	60	24	25	364	369	373	2.9	4	17	65.4	54.7
Dorchester Academy	154	69	16.1	10.4	65	42	19	394	373	413	0.0	5	0	50.5	59.4
Community Academy of Science and Health	155	414	17.1	9.8	64	50	23	332	337	358	3.6	2	7	55.5	57.5

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Correction, September 14, 2016: Andover High School has 8.5 college counselors and 31 varsity teams, Oliver Ames High School has 29 varsity sports teams, and Newton North has 13 college counselors.

METHODOLOGY: This chart ranks public high schools in towns or districts that lie within, or partially within, I-495. To compile the list, we used the most recent data for each school available at press time from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and, in certain instances, information self-reported by the schools. In cases of missing information, we used data from a previous year when necessary. We omitted highly specialized schools and schools reporting insufficient information. To calculate the rankings, statistician George Recck, director of the Math Resource Center at Babson College, analyzed the results, comparing each high school’s data points to the overall average for all schools. He then applied a percentage weight to the standardized value for each school to create an aggregate “score,” and used this score to determine each high school’s rank. We considered it more desirable to have a smaller class size, a lower student-to-teacher ratio, and fewer students per college counselor and sports team.

 

Research by Alene Bouranova, Paola Cigui, Carolyn Freeman, Grace Gulino, Madeleine Maher, Olivia Paradice, and Samantha Pitkin

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