Paly was ranked No. 83 in public schools throughout the nation, as well as No. 54 in ‘Math and Science Schools’ and No. 81 in ‘Most Connected Classrooms’.

– Courtesy of U.S. News & World Report

Palo Alto High School ranks among the top 100 public schools within the nation, according to rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report.

Catagories under which U.S. News & World Report ranked the schools include, ‘Most Connected Classrom’, ‘Best Math and Science Schools’ and ‘Best High Schools.’

“US News has published again their list of the top high schools in the country,” said Radu Toma , the Instructional Supervisor of the math department. “Amongst many other indicators they use, they now actually look at the number of students who have passed, not just taken, APs [Advanced Placement courses]. Amongst the 21,000 better schools they looked at, Paly is ranked No. 83, overall.”

Furthermore, Paly’s rank amongst the ‘Best Math and Science Schools’ marks its highest accolade on a national level.

“This was the first year they also published a list of the  ‘Best High Schools for Math and Science,’” Toma said. “Paly ranks 54th nationally in this category. While any such ranking process has its flaws, the US News one is probably the most widely recognized one in the country and, as far as I know, our ranking on the ‘Best Schools for Math and Science’ list is the highest our school ever got at the national level.”

Although an admirable accolade, Principal Phil Winston believes that such rankings are not accurate in analyzing schools throughout the country.

“It’s an honor [the school’s ranking], but it never authentically represents the school,” Winston said.

Winston also emphasized that the Paly administration does not regard the rankings as a top priority, nor does the Palo Alto Unified School District.