These are the top high schools in the Raleigh and Durham-Chapel Hill metro areas in 2024

Five Triangle schools have cracked the top 500 public high schools nationally in the newest rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.

Raleigh Charter High School reclaimed the top spot in the Triangle in the U.S. News & World Report 2024 Best High Schools rankings released early Tuesday.

Woods Charter School in Chatham County, Wake STEM Early College High School in Cary, Green Level High School in Cary and East Chapel Hill High School also were ranked within the top 500 public high schools in America.

Last year, only two Triangle schools cracked the top 500.

NC school no longer top in US

The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro was dethroned from its spot as the nation’s top public high school in 2023. It dropped to No. 16 nationally. But it remains the top-ranked school in North Carolina.

More than a fifth of North Carolina’s high schools (22%) ranked in the top 25% nationally. That put North Carolina 29th nationally after being 25th last year.

U.S. News ranked nearly 17,660 public high schools based on college readiness, proficiency on state exams, performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, performance of underserved students, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates.

“The 2024 Best High Schools rankings offer a starting point for parents to understand a school’s academic performance, whether it’s a prospective school or one that their child is already attending,” LaMont Jones, managing editor of education at U.S. News, said in a news release. “Accessible data on our high schools can empower families across the country as they navigate today’s educational environment and plan for the future.”

U.S. News has been rating high schools since 2007.

The rankings were based on the 2021-22 school year, which was the first full year of in-person instruction for many students since the COVID-19 pandemic.

RTI International, a research firm based in Research Triangle Park, crunched the numbers for the 2024 list.

Top Raleigh metro area schools

The top 10 schools in the Raleigh-Cary metro area (which includes Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties) are:

▪ Raleigh Charter High School (No. 4 in the state and No. 156 nationally)

▪ Wake STEM Early College High School in Cary (No. 6 in North Carolina and No. 261 nationally)

▪ Green Level High School in Cary (No. 9 in the state and No. 318 nationally)

▪ Green Hope High School in Cary (No. 16 in the state and No. 523 nationally)

▪ Triangle Math and Science Academy in Cary (No. 18 in the state and No. 540 nationally)

▪ Panther Creek High School in Cary (No. 20 in the state and No. 643 nationally)

▪ Enloe High School in Raleigh (No. 25 in the state and No. 747 nationally)

▪ Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Raleigh (No. 36 in the state and No. 967 nationally)

▪ Holly Springs High School (No. 41 in the state and No. 1,325 nationally)

▪ Apex High School (No. 42 in the state and No. 1,336 nationally)

Top Durham-Chapel Hill schools

The top 10 schools in the Durham-Chapel Hill metro area (which includes Durham, Orange, Chatham, Granville and Person counties) are:

▪ Woods Charter School in Chatham County (No. 5 in the state and No. 244 nationally)

▪ East Chapel Hill High School (No. 11 in the state and No. 389 nationally)

▪ Chapel Hill High School (No. 14 in the state and No. 515 nationally)

▪ Research Triangle High School in Durham (No. 17 in the state and No. 536 nationally)

▪ Eno River Academy in Hillsborough (No. 27 in the state and No. 762 nationally)

▪ Durham School of the Arts (No. 34 in the state and No. 928 nationally)

▪ Carrboro High School (No. 37 in the state and No. 995 nationally)

▪ Oxford Preparatory School in Oxford (No. 40 in the state and No. 1,233 nationally)

▪ City of Medicine Academy in Durham (No. 64 in the state and No. 2,211 nationally)

▪ Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough (No. 67 in the state and No. 2,322 nationally)

Charter schools make up two of the top 10 schools in the Raleigh list and four of the top 10 in the Durham list.

Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules that traditional public schools must follow. For instance, they’re not required to provide school bus service or participate in the federal school lunch program.

They also have more flexibility in how they spend their money, don’t have to follow the school calendar law and don’t need all their teachers to be licensed.

Read the full report at www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools.