The best middle school in Massachusetts is located in Boston, according to U.S. News and World report.
U.S. News and World report released its 2024 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings on Wednesday, which included more than 79,000 public middle and elementary schools around the country. In Massachusetts, 492 schools were ranked.
The rankings used state assessments of students in math and reading/language arts. It also looked at student backgrounds, achievement in core subjects, and how well schools are educating their students. Student-teacher ratios are applied to break ties in the overall score.
In Massachusetts, Boston Latin was ranked first.
There are 2,416 students enrolled in the 7-12 grade school. According to U.S. News and World report, 81% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 86% scored at or above that level for reading.
Brookline Public Schools had three of the top five middle schools.
Heath, a public school in Brookline, placed second. Third place went to Amos A. Lawrence School, another public school in Brookline. And Brookline’s John Pierce School placed fourth.
Outside of eastern Massachusetts, Sarah W Gibbons Middle, which is located in Westborough, placed highest. It was listed as number 12.
U.S. News previously was under scrutiny from members of the higher education community for its college rankings. People had criticized its top universities list stating that the rankings are based on limited criteria, ignore certain aspects of education and can be influenced by money, according to Forbes Magazine. U.S. News significantly changed its ranking methods for universities, eliminating five longstanding factors and adding new ones, the organization said.
