3 Henrico schools ranked in Richmond’s top ten public high schools by U.S. News & World Report

Deep Run, Mills E. Godwin, and Glen Allen were all ranked within the top ten public high schools of the Richmond metro area by U.S. News & World Report on Aug. 18.

Each year, U.S. News releases updated rankings of all public schools in the nation, using several indicators to determine scores, including graduation rates, state test scores, and participation in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes.

Deep Run High was ranked as the third-best school in Richmond, following Richmond Public Schools’ Open High and Richmond Community High, while Godwin was ranked as fifth and Glen Allen as sixth.

J.R. Tucker was ranked at 12th, Douglas S. Freeman as 14th, Henrico High as 29th, and Hermitage as 31st within the Richmond metro area list of 46 schools. Varina High, Highland Springs High, and Henrico Virtual Academy were placed within the 32-46th ranking.

Deep Run was also ranked at 14th in Virginia’s list of 323 public schools, following schools mostly located in Fairfax County, and as 580th in the national ranking of nearly 18,000 public schools. 

Last year, Henrico Schools had four schools make the top ten list in Richmond: Deep Run (again at third), Godwin (fourth), Glen Allen (again at sixth), and Freeman (10th) – which was placed at 14th this year. 

U.S. News uses six indicators to calculate the rankings: the proportion of 12th graders who passed at least one AP or IB exam (weighted at 30%), state assessment scores (20%), state assessment scores compared to socioeconomic expectations (20%), state assessment scores of underserved student groups (10%), the proportion of 12th graders who passed AP or IB exams in multiple content areas (10%), and the school’s graduation rate (10%).

Deep Run has an AP participation rate of 74% and a 97% graduation rate. Only 13% of students are economically disadvantaged.

The AP participation rate at Godwin is 59% and the graduate rate is 91%. About 27% of students are economically disadvantaged.

Glen Allen has a 57% AP participation rate and a 94% graduation rate, and 30% of students are economically disadvantaged.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.