High Schools: Any from South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota in Top 200?

There are close to 25,000 high schools throughout the United States and they all have one thing in common. They all think their school is one of the best in America.

But what does it take to truly claim the title of one of the best high schools in the country?

U.S. News knows a thing or two about that.

Every year they look at every high school in America and rank them in six key categories:

• College Readiness
• State Assessment Proficiency
• State Assessment Performance
• Underserved Student Performance
• College Curriculum Breadth
• Graduation Rate

After crunching the numbers, U.S News is out with their list of 2024's Best U.S. High Schools.

One Tri-State (South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota) area state's schools were in elite company.

A trio of Minnesota high schools landed in the Top 200 with Woodbury's Math and Science Academy (#120), St. Paul's Nova Classical Academy Upper School (#179), and Stillwater's St. Croix Preparatory Academy Upper (#190) all landing in the top one percent nationally.

TOP FIVE MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOLS

1. Math and Science Academy - Woodbury
   #120 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 98%
   Enrollment 9-12: 333
2. Nova Classical Academy Upper School - Saint Paul
   #179 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 96%
   Enrollment 9-12: 297
3. St. Croix Preparatory Academy Upper - Stillwater
   #190 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 95%
   Enrollment 9-12: 381
4. Parnassus Prep School-Rhetoric - Maple Grove
   #262 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 91%
   Enrollment 9-12: 225
5. Minnetonka Senior High School - Minnetonka
   #276 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 97%
   Enrollment 9-12: 3,508

Iowa's best showing was Iowa City's West Senior High at 626th in the nation.

TOP FIVE IOWA HIGH SCHOOLS

1. West Senior High School - Iowa City
   #626 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 94%
   Enrollment 9-12: 1,503
2. Gilbert High School - Gilbert
   #996 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 100%
   Enrollment 9-12: 537
3. Pella High School - Pella
   #1,073 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 98%
   Enrollment 9-12: 764
4. Decorah High School - Decorah
   #1,098 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 97%
   Enrollment 9-12: 576
5. Liberty High School – North Liberty
   #1,556 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 97%
   Enrollment 9-12: 1,167

South Dakota had one school in the Top 1,000 - Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls (#932).

TOP FIVE SOUTH DAKOTA HIGH SCHOOLS

1. Lincoln High School - Sioux Falls
   #932 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 88%
   Enrollment 9-12: 1,883
2. Warner High School - Warner
   #1,754 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 100%
   Enrollment 9-12: 87
3. Stevens High School - Rapid City
   #2,761 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 96%
   Enrollment 9-12: 1,686
4. Brandon Valley High School - Brandon
   #2,865 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 98%
   Enrollment 9-12: 1,345
5. Northwestern High School - Mellette
   #3,264 nationally
   Graduation Rate: 96%
   Enrollment 9-12: 88

The top ranked high schools nationally come from five different states.

TOP HIGH SCHOOLS IN AMERICA

1. BASIS Peoria - Peoria, Arizona
2. Signature School - Evansville, Indiana
3. Tesla STEM High School - Redmond, Washington
4. Julia R. Masterman Secondary School - Philadelphia
5. Payton College Preparatory High School - Chicago

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