Nassau County has 10 of the top 50 public high schools in the state going into the 2025-26 school year, according to a study released by U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
Jericho Senior High School was the top school in the county, coming in ninth in the state and 108th in the country. The school had a 98% graduation rate with an 89.6 college readiness score.
“We are grateful to be recognized for the outstanding efforts of our students, teachers and entire staff,” Sam Perlman, president of the Jericho School District’s Board of Education, said. “Jericho has a long history of scholastic leadership and everyone in our community is committed to maintaining that success.”
Garden City High School placed second in Nassau County on the list, ranking 16th in the state and 147th in the U.S. The school recorded a 100% graduation rate and an 83.8 college readiness score.
Eight other Nassau County high schools placed within the top 50; Great Neck South High School at 21, Manhasset High School at 23, The Wheatley School at 32, Cold Spring Harbor High School (which serves a small number of students in Nassau County) at 33, Syosset High School at 36, Herricks High School at 41, Roslyn High School at 47 and Plainview-Old Bethpage’s JFK High School at 50.
The 2025-2026 rankings evaluated nearly 24,000 public high schools and nearly 18,000 earned a spot on the list. New York had 1,276 schools ranked.
The rankings cited six different factors.
The College Readiness Index measures the proportion of a school’s 12th graders who took and earned a qualifying score on AP or IB exams. This makes up 30% of the ranking.
The College Curriculum Breadth Index, which accounts for 10% of the ranking, is calculated among a school’s 2022-2023 12th graders from the percentage who took and the percentage who earned qualifying scores on multiple AP or IB exams.
State assessment proficiency and state assessment performance each accounted for 20% of the ranking.
Underserved student performance, which assesses learning outcomes among Black, Hispanic and low-income students, makes up 10% of the ranking, and graduation rate makes up the final 10%.
“Students and families need data to help them make one of the most important decisions of their academic journey,” LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, said.
U.S. News & World Report said it pulled data from multiple third-party sources, including the Common Core of Data, International Baccalaureate and the College Board.
