Darien High School is No. 1 in CT, U.S. News Says

This article was reported and written by Michael Dinan. David Gurliacci posted it to Darien Patch.

Darien High School is ranked No. 1 in Connecticut among public high schools, according to the annual U.S. News rankings, released Tuesday.

U.S. News and Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research used data on how well students perform overall on state-mandated assessments, as well as how groups such as black, Hispanic and low-income students perform.

“Schools were ranked within each state, as well as on a national stage, so families can see how their public high school stacked up against rivals within the community and across the country,” U.S. News said.

Darien may have been ranked No. 1 in the state, but nationwide it was much farther down on the list—No. 217 among all high schools in the country, according to the magazine.

Nearby Weston High School ranked No. 3, Wilton High School was in sixth place, and New Canaan High School ranked 15th in Connecticut, according to U.S. News.

The four categories listed in the rankings page for Connecticut cover student-to-teacher ratios, college readiness and proficiency levels in math and reading. New Canaan High School is ranked 544th nationally.

Here are the top-20 ranked high schools in Connecticut, with the second number indicating national ranking:

1. Darien High School—Darien (217) 
2. Conard High School—West Hartford (218) 
3. Weston High School—Weston (240) 
4. Ridgefield High School—Ridgefield (250) 
5. Farmington High School—Farmington (258) 
6. Wilton High School—Wilton (292) 
7. Staples High School—Westport (296) 
8. William H. Hall High School—West Hartford (394) 
9. Joel Barlow High School—Redding (434) 
10. Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy—East Hartford (448)
11. Fairfield Ludlowe High School—Fairfield (483) 
12. East Lyme High School—East Lyme (524) 
13. Granby Memorial High School—Granby (527) 
14. Avon High School—Avon (532) 
15. New Canaan High School—New Canaan (544) 
16. Simsbury High School—Simsbury (547) 
17. Metropolitan Learning Center—Bloomfield (716) 
18. Daniel Hand High School—Madison (773) 
19. Amity Regional High School—Woodbridge (780) 
20. Fairfield Warde High School—Fairfield (792)