Guilford High School (GHS) has, once again, been recognized as one of the best in the state, receiving high marks from both U.S. News and World Report and Niche.

In its ranking of the best high schools in Connecticut, U.S. News and World Report ranked GHS just outside of the top 30 at 32. Niche, in its ranking of the top public high schools in Connecticut, ranked GHS 21st.

Board of Education Chair Kathleen Balestracci said that especially in light of COVID and the impact it had on education across the country, Guilford school administrators are standing behind their ability to navigate those disruptions and still maintain high standards.

“Guilford Public Schools strives for educational excellence and a culturally responsive and safe learning environment for our students; as such, we are always pleased to see Guilford Public Schools identified among the top schools in our state by rating organizations,” said Balestracci in a statement. “While we know that each rating approach differs, and may vary in their prioritization of components measured, we are extremely proud of the achievement of our students and the tremendous work and expertise of our faculty and staff that these ratings can communicate.”

According to the U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, they include data on nearly 24,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 18,000 schools were ranked on six factors based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college, according to the publication.

Data from U.S. News and confirmed by Guilford school officials put a total GHS enrollment at 1,102 with a teacher/student ratio of 13:1.

U.S. News also noted that GHS has an advanced placement (AP) participation rate of 48 percent, a total minority enrollment of 18 percent, and 12 percent of enrolled students are considered economically disadvantaged. Overall, GHS received a 91.17 out of 100 in its rankings. GHS was also ranked as the fourth best high school in the New Haven metro area. The publication also cited a graduation rate of 96 percent, a college readiness score of 43.8, and a State Assessment Proficiency Rank of 22nd best in Connecticut.

Niche rated GHS the 21st best public high school in the state and the 22nd best public school for college prep. GHS additionally received accolades for its STEM programming, ranking 34th in the state. Overall, Niche handed GHS an A rating for academics, college prep, and sports and an A minus for teachers and clubs and activities. Niche rated GHS with a C plus for both diversity and administration.

According to Niche, what sets them apart from other ranking services is that they are, “…the market leader in connecting colleges and schools with students and families. With in-depth profiles on every school and college in America, over 140 million reviews and ratings, and powerful search and data tools, Niche helps millions of students and families find and enroll in the right school for them.”

According to Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Paul Freeman, while he appreciates the positive conclusions, he doesn’t place much weight on rankings regardless of how highlights the school system. Freeman said the hard work and dedication of the staff and the test scores of the students are what he looks to gauge the performance of his district.

“I certainly appreciate when people or organizations recognize the good work that we are doing, but we don’t place a lot of emphasis on those external ranking,” said Freeman. “U.S. News and World Report normally does a really good job, but many of these ranking organizations do not have good local sense of what is going on. I continue to be very proud of the work that we are doing in the Guilford Public Schools. We’ve recently gotten results back from the SBAC [Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium] and from the Next Generation Science Standards Assessments and from the SATs of last year and even those, though they take only take a snap shot of a single moment in time, we continue to do well on those. As a community and as a school district, I think that we’ve come through the pandemic really well and I continue to have enormous confidence in our teachers. And when outside organizations recognize the work that we are doing, I don’t want to over-emphasize that, but we are pleased that people are recognizing our continued good work.”

Freeman added, “I continue to be enormously appreciative of the community’s support and I’m proud of the work our teachers do. And extremely proud of the performance of our students.”