Harrison High School landed the No. 4 spot in New York State in the 2026-27 U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday, Aug. 18, making it the highest-ranked public high school in the Hudson Valley.

That's out of nearly 18,000 ranked schools. Harrison also placed No. 211 nationally.

Rye High School came in at No. 57 in New York and No. 5,027 nationally, with a 99 percent graduation rate and 879 students. Blind Brook High School in Rye Brook followed closely at No. 60 statewide and No. 5,123 nationally, carrying a 97 percent graduation rate and 401 students.

All three schools sit within the top tier of the roughly 27,000 public high schools evaluated nationwide.

How the rankings work

U.S. News weighted six factors: college readiness (30 percent), state assessment proficiency (20 percent), state assessment performance (20 percent), underserved student performance (10 percent), college curriculum breadth (10 percent) and graduation rate (10 percent). Research firm RTI International collected and analyzed the data, drawn from the 2023-24 school year.

One caveat for local families: New York did not allow the use of its schools' AP data in the rankings. That means Harrison's college readiness score of 81.1 was calculated without AP exam results. U.S. News has not specified what alternative measures were used for New York schools.

"The 2026-2027 Best High Schools rankings empower families with the valuable data and transparency they need to help make the best educational choices for them," LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, said in a statement accompanying the release.

Regional context

Harrison topped all Hudson Valley schools, followed by Dobbs Ferry High School (No. 7 in New York, No. 410 nationally) and Yonkers High School (No. 9 in New York, No. 521 nationally). The New York City metro area, which includes Westchester County, had 1,009 ranked schools total, with about 20 percent placing in the top quarter nationally.

Neither Harrison Central School District, Rye City School District nor Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District had issued public statements on the rankings as of Wednesday, Aug. 19. Year-over-year comparisons are not available because prior-year ranking positions were not published in the sources reviewed.

Families looking for the full methodology and school-by-school breakdowns can find them on the U.S. News education site.