Madison's Daniel Hand High School Among Top 20 In CT: New Report
MADISON, CT — Daniel Hand High School in Madison is the 16th best public high school in Connecticut , according to a new report by educational ranking company Niche.com.
The school received an overall A rating , and A-pluses in the Clubs & Activities, Sports, and Food categories.
The 2025 Best Public High Schools in America ranking, released last week, shows the best traditional public high schools in the nation, including magnet and charter schools.
Niche.com said its rankings, now in the 10th year, differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.
Connecticut's top 50 public high schools are:
- Staples High School , Westport
- New Canaan High School
- Darien High School
- Greenwich High School
- Wilton High School
- Ridgefield High School
- Center for Global Studies , Norwalk
- Avon High School
- Farmington High School
- Glastonbury High School
- Fairfield Warde High School , Fairfield
- Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy , East Hartford
- Weston High School
- Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut , Groton
- Conard High School , West Hartford
- Daniel Hand High School , Madison
- Hall High School , West Hartford
- Simsbury High School
- Cheshire High School
- Guilford High School
- East Lyme High School
- Masuk High School , Monroe
- South Windsor High School
- Trumbull High School
- Fairfield Ludlowe High School , Fairfield
- Amity Regional High School , Woodbridge
- The Academy of Information Technology & Engineering , Stamford
- Lyme-Old Lyme High School , Old Lyme
- Rocky Hill High School
- Three Rivers Middle College Magnet High School , Norwich
- Canton High School
- Rham High School , Hebron
- Newtown High School
- Pomperaug Regional High School , Southbury
- Joel Barlow High School , Redding
- Granby Memorial High School
- Berlin High School
- Jonathan Law High School , Milford
- Bethel High School
- Old Saybrook Senior High School
- Joseph A. Foran High School , Milford
- P-Tech Norwalk
- Valley Regional High School , Deep River
- Shepaug Valley School , Washington
- E.O. Smith High School , Storrs
- Tolland High School
- Brookfield High School
- University High School of Science and Engineering , Hartford
- Waterford High School
- The Morgan School , Clinton
The company said its rankings were created to provide families with valuable information — both quantitative and qualitative — on schools in their area or in a neighborhood they're not familiar with yet. As in previous years, the Best Schools rankings include categories for boarding schools and private schools, including religious schools, among many others.
Nationally, the top 10 ranked public schools in America are:
- North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics , Durham, North Carolina (high school for grades 11-12)
- The Davidson Academy , Reno, Nevada (school for grades 5-12)
- Massachusetts Academy for Math & Science , Worcester, Massachusetts (magnet school for grades 11-12)
- Rising Leaders Academy , Panama City, Florida (charter school for grades K-12)
- Stuyvesant High School , New York City (high school for grades 9-12)
- Payton College Preparatory High School , Chicago (magnet school for grades 9-12)
- Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics , Oklahoma City (high school or grades 11-12)
- South Carolina Governor's School for Science & Mathematics , Hartsville, South Dakota (high school for grades 11-12)
- School for the Talented & Gifted , Dallas (magnet school for grades 9-12)
- Pine View School , Osprey, Florida (magnet school for grades 2-12)
— Patch Staff, contributed to this story.