U.S. News & World Report's best high schools: See how Long Island ranks

At Jericho High School, 10% of the class that graduated in June is headed to the Ivy League this fall.

So it was not a big surprise for the Jericho district's new superintendent, Robert Kravitz, that the perennially high-achieving school was ranked as the best on Long Island, the 9th best in New York State and the 108th best in the nation, according to high school rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

It was the only high school on Long Island to make the top ten in New York State. A total of 11 Island schools were named among the 50 best public high schools in the state.

“We are proud that we are a top school,” said Kravitz, who took over as Jericho’s superintendent of schools on July 1. “Our staff and everyone here work very hard to make sure that every child gets the best education.”

More than 30 graduates out of a total of 306 from Jericho’s class of 2025 are headed to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other Ivy League colleges, he said. In addition, others will be attending top schools that are not in the Ivy League including MIT, Stanford, the U.S. Naval Academy and William & Mary, where Thomas Jefferson studied.

“We have great staff," Kravitz said. "We have a great community."

On Long Island, Jericho was followed by Garden City High School, which came in 16th statewide and 147th nationally.

U.S. News & World Report evaluated nearly 24,000 public high schools across the nation for this year's list, with nearly 18,000 ranked, the organization said. The schools were assessed on factors such as student achievement on state-required assessments, graduation rates and college readiness.

Kusum Sinha, superintendent of Garden City Schools, said, “The academic strength of our students is definitely there, but also the exceptional dedication of our teachers and staff, and of course the support of our parents and the broader community. This is an amazing community.”

Garden City’s Class of 2025 is also sending many students off to top colleges including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Tufts, Berkeley and Notre Dame, the district said.

In addition to Jericho and Garden City, the local schools on the list include: 

• Great Neck South High School, at 21st in the state.
• Manhasset Secondary School, at 23rd in the state.
• The Wheatley School in Old Westbury, at 32nd in the state.
• Cold Spring Harbor High School, at 33rd in the state.
• Syosset High School, at 36th in the state.
• Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, at 41st in the state.
• Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, at 46th in the state. 
• Roslyn High School in Roslyn Heights, at 47th in the state.
• Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, at 50th in the state.

Half Hollow Hills High School West came in 51st in the state rankings, according to the report released Tuesday.

Eight of the top 10 high schools in the state are in New York City, with Queens High School for the Science at York College in Jamaica topping the list. Edgemont Junior-Senior High School in Scarsdale in Westchester County came in 10th.

Massachusetts had 43% of its schools ranked in the top quarter of U.S. high schools, the most of any state. It was followed by Connecticut with 41% and New Jersey with 40%. New York State had 31.9%, putting it in 9th place.