Here are Alabama's Top 25 High Schools in 2019, U.S. News Says

Here are Alabama's Top 25 High Schools in 2019, U.S. News Says

April 30, 2019

U.S. News and World Report 2019 rankings of the country's best high schools are out, and Alabama had one high school----Loveless Academic Magnet Program in Montgomery ranked 13th in the nation--- near the top of the national list. 

The next-closest Alabama school in the national ranking is Mountain Brook High School, located in the state's wealthiest suburb and ranked 213th out of more than 17,000 schools nationwide. 

This is the first time U.S. News' ranking includes nearly every high school, up from last year's ranking of 2,700 schools. 

The new methodology relies heavily on student access to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses and tests, state standardized test results, and graduation rates. As a result, those schools whose students performed at high levels were ranked highly. 

U.S. News described its top-ranked public schools for 2019 as "those whose attendees demonstrated outstanding outcomes above expectations in math and reading state assessments, passed and participated in a diverse array of college-level exams and graduated in high proportions."

Since the methodology changed so significantly, U.S. News cautioned readers not to compare a school's ranking in the 2019 Best High Schools ranking with any previous ranking.

In addition to the national ranking, U.S. News ranked high schools within each state, and schools ranked in the top 25 are shown below. 

Huntsville City Schools has three high schools in the top 25, the most of any Alabama school district. Madison City, Montgomery County, and Shelby County each have two high schools in the top 25. 

Alabama's top 25 schools have some things in common, but are diverse in other ways:

  • Twenty of the top 25 earned either A on the most recent state report card, and five earned B's,
  • All of the schools were either grades 9 through 12 or grades 10 through 12,
  • Eight schools have fewer than 1,000 students, 17 have more than 1,000,
  • The smallest high school on the list has 452 students, and the largest has nearly 2,200,
  • Less than half of the student body is in poverty, measured by the percentage of students whose families are eligible for government assistance for low-income families,
  • At 13 of the schools, fewer than one in four students are in poverty,
  • Twelve of the 25 schools spent less than the state average per student funding ($9,497 for the 2017 fiscal year) 
  • Twenty-one of the 25 spent more than the state average ($1,903) in local tax dollars ($1,903 for the 2017 fiscal year),
  • Eighteen of the 25 are located in cities or suburbs,
  • Eleven are located in and around the Birmingham area, and
  • Four of the top 25 are magnet schools.
     

Here are the top 25 schools, counting down to number one. Alabama schools ranked 26th through 248th are at the end of this article. Schools whose scores were in the bottom 25 percent were not ranked by U.S. News. 
 

#25 - Shades Valley High School

Jefferson County schools
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 46%
Enrollment: 1,338
Total spending per student (2017): $9,085
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,646

#24 - Grissom High School

Huntsville City schools
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 32%
Enrollment: 1,810
Total spending per student (2017): $10,809
Local spending per student , included in total above (2017): $3,667

#23 - Helena High School

Shelby County schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 17%
Enrollment: 1,281
Total spending per student (2017): $9,613
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,667

#22 - Muscle Shoals High School

Muscle Shoals City schools
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 27%
Enrollment: 874
Total spending per student (2017): $10,147
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,812

#21 - Hartselle High School

Hartselle City schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 21%
Enrollment: 1,008
Total spending per student (2017): $8,930
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,175

#20 Hewitt-Trussville High School

Trussville City schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 8%
Enrollment: 1,489
Total spending per student (2017): $9,824
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,958

#19 - Oneonta High School

Oneonta City schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 38%
Enrollment: 452
Total spending per student (2017): $8,206
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,126

#18 - Northridge High School

Tuscaloosa City schools
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 25%
Enrollment: 1,002
Total spending per student (2017): $11,161
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,193

#17 - Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School

Montgomery County schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 25%
Enrollment: 530
Total spending per student (2017): $9,080
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,383

#16 - Enterprise High School

Enterprise City schools
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 36%
Enrollment: 2,177
Total spending per student (2017): $8,748
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,627

#15 - Huntsville High School

Huntsville City schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 22%
Enrollment: 1,828
Total spending per student (2017): $10,809
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,667

#14 - Cullman High School

Cullman City schools
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 29%
Enrollment: 928
Total spending per student (2017): $9,020
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,158

#13 - Auburn High School

Auburn City schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 20%
Enrollment: 1,844
Total spending per student (2017): $9,472
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,852

#12 - Fairhope High School

Baldwin County schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 27%
Enrollment: 1,616
Total spending per student (2017): $9,146
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,251

#11 - Ramsay High School

Birmingham City schools (magnet)
2018 report card grade: B
Student poverty level: 38%
Enrollment: 800
Total spending per student (2017): $10,792
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,537

#10 - Arab High School

Arab City schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 27%
Enrollment: 760
Total spending per student (2017): $9,202
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,903

#9 - Spain Park High School

Hoover City schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 14%
Enrollment: 1,626
Total spending per student (2017): $10,782
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,754

#8 - Vestavia Hills High School

Vestavia Hills City schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 9%
Enrollment: 2,032
Total spending per student (2017): $11,031
Local spending per student (2017): $4,727

#7 - James Clemens High School

Madison City schools
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 16%
Enrollment: 1,911
Total spending per student (2017): $9,339
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,483

#6 - Oak Mountain High School

Shelby County schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 11%
Enrollment: 1,572
Total spending per student (2017): $9,613
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,667

#5 - Bob Jones High School

Madison City schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 19%
Enrollment: 1,779
Total spending per student (2017): $9,339
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $2,483

#4 Homewood High School

Homewood City schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 23%
Enrollment: 1,226
Total spending per student (2017): $11,431
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $4,699

#3 - New Century Technology High School

Huntsville City schools (magnet)
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 27%
Enrollment: 465
Total spending per student (2017): $10,80
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $3,667

#2 - Mountain Brook High School

Mountain Brook City schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 0%
Enrollment: 1,051
Total spending per student (2017): $13,141
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $7,094

#1 - LAMP High School

Montgomery County schools 
2018 report card grade: A
Student poverty level: 8%
Enrollment: 507
Total spending per student (2017): $9,080
Local spending per student, included in total above (2017): $1,383

Here are the factors U.S. News used for its 2019 rankings:

  • College readiness - participation and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams,
  • Reading and math proficiency – based on state tests,
  • Reading and math performance – actual versus predicted outcomes on state tests,
  • Underserved student performance – outcomes for black, Hispanic and low-income students,
  • College curriculum breadth – based on outcomes on AP and IB tests, and
  • Graduation rates – based on 2016-17 graduation rates. 


The new ranking method assigns weights to those factors and produces an overall score. This differs from the previous process with used a four-step process and then used college readiness as the way to determine a school's rank. 

“We enhanced the methodology to provide an even more comprehensive ranking that is easier to understand and, therefore, more useful to parents and educators,” said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News. “Now, each school’s score correlates to its national percentile – a school with a score of 70 is in the 70th percentile and ranks higher than 70% of schools. Going forward, this methodology will allow for intuitive comparisons of a school’s performance year after year."

Source: "Here are Alabama's top 25 high schools in 2019, U.S. News says" AL.com (April 30, 2019) Trisha Powell Crain