The 34 Best High Schools in DC, Maryland, and Virginia

Recently updated

Background on the top 34

What are the top high schools in the DC metro area? We spent hundreds of hours looking at academic data to find out who has the smartest students.

The top 3

The magnet public high school Thomas Jefferson, known for its STEM emphasis, outranked every school in the DC metro area. Sidwell Friends, known for its scions of famous families, ranked #2. The all-girls National Cathedral School rounded out the top 3.

Ranking methods and references

Click here to learn more about our methods and references.

RankHigh SchoolAverage SATNational Merit Semi-FinalistsPresidential ScholarsTuition and feesTypeGenderCityState
1Thomas Jefferson Magnet1503 Learn about tutoring37.41%7.29%$0MagnetCo-edAlexandriaVA
2Sidwell Friends School1480 Learn about tutoring10.94%6.25%$44,672PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
3National Cathedral School (NCS)1400 Learn about tutoring5.63%11.27%$48,290ParochialGirls-onlyWashingtonDC
4St. Albans School1460 Learn about tutoring8.43%9.64%$48,682ParochialBoys-onlyWashingtonDC
5Maret School1365 Learn about tutoring2.78%4.17%$37,470PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
6Holton-Arms School1440 Learn about tutoring3.75%1.25%$42,975PrivateGirls-onlyBethesdaMD
7The Potomac School1440 Learn about tutoringNot reported0.88%$45,985PrivateCo-edMcLeanVA
8Georgetown Day School1410 Learn about tutoring8.66%8.66%$43,370PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
9St. Anselm's School1342 Learn about tutoring2.38%Not reported$31,050ParochialBoys-onlyWashingtonDC
10Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School1370 Learn about tutoring6.12%2.04%$37,275PrivateCo-edRockvilleMD
11The Heights School1330 Learn about tutoring5.08%Not reported$28,750ParochialBoys-onlyPotomacMD
12Washington International School (WIS)1310 Learn about tutoring1.82%7.27%$42,830PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
13Georgetown Preparatory School1386 Learn about tutoring1.63%Not reported$71,515PrivateBoys-onlyBethesdaMD
14Walt Whitman High School1322 Learn about tutoring2.24%1.22%$0PublicCo-edBethesdaMD
15Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (Visi)1339 Learn about tutoring0.83%Not reported$30,100PrivateGirls-onlyWashingtonDC
16Stone Ridge School1295 Learn about tutoringNot reportedNot reported$40,525PrivateGirls-onlyBethesdaMD
17Bullis School1320 Learn about tutoring0.90%Not reported$44,850PrivateCo-edPotomacMD
18British School1331 Learn about tutoringNot reportedNot reported$35,038PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
19Montgomery Blair*1318 Learn about tutoring5.93%1.84%$0MagnetCo-edSilver SpringMD
20Gonzaga College High School1297 Learn about tutoring1.73%1.73%$23,550PrivateBoys-onlyWashingtonDC
21Landon School1250 Learn about tutoring2.74%2.74%$43,560PrivateBoys-onlyBethesdaMD
22Richard Montgomery High School1244 Learn about tutoring6.34%2.29%$0PublicCo-edRockvilleMD
23Sandy Spring Friends School1288 Learn about tutoringNot reportedNot reported$53,195PrivateCo-edSandy SpringMD
24Walter Johnson High School1289 Learn about tutoring0.51%0.17%$0PublicCo-edBethesdaMD
25Winston Churchill High School1252 Learn about tutoring2.12%0.88%$0PublicCo-edPotomacMD
26Madeira School1288 Learn about tutoring0.00%Not reported$62,000PrivateGirls-onlyMcLeanVA
27School Without Walls1272 Learn about tutoring4.73%4.73%$0MagnetCo-edWashingtonDC
28Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC) High School1250 Learn about tutoring1.72%0.38%$0PublicCo-edBethesdaMD
29Edmund Burke School1230 Learn about tutoringNot reportedNot reported$42,390PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
30Thomas Wootton High School1229 Learn about tutoring2.06%0.00%$0PublicCo-edRockvilleMD
31St. John's College High SchoolNot reportedNot reportedNot reported$23,975PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC
32Episcopal High SchoolNot reportedNot reportedNot reported$58,500ParochialCo-edAlexandriaVA
33St. Stephen's and St. Agnes SchoolNot reportedNot reportedNot reported$39,770ParochialCo-edAlexandriaVA
34Field SchoolNot reportedNot reportedNot reported$48,260PrivateCo-edWashingtonDC

Methodology: ranking the best high schools

Factors

3 factors were weighted equally:

  1. Average SAT (math and critical reading)
  2. Average number of Presidential Scholar candidates
  3. Average number of National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists

For many high schools, we also reported the average number of students who went on to attend 14 top colleges. This number was not included for ranking purposes. The schools included were Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Each criterion was normalized by the min-max method to create raw scores:

xt – minc(xt0) / (maxc(xt0 – minc(xt0)).

High schools were ranked by raw score.

References

1 SAT Average. Calculated by adding average Math Test and average Reading Test scores.

Thomas Jefferson Magnethttps://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJProfile1819.pdf
Sidwell Friends Schoolhttp://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Regions-best-private-schools_02_26-40314672.html
National Cathedral School (NCS)https://ncs.myschoolapp.com/ftpimages/59/download/download_2961509.pdf
St. Albans SchoolSam Tuo
Maret Schoolhttps://www.maret.org/uploaded/photos/4_Academics/Curriculum_Guide/Mar1617_curric_full_no_ap_US.pdf
Holton-Arms Schoolhttps://www.holton-arms.edu/uploaded/documents/holton_school_profile_sy2019sm.pdf
The Potomac Schoolhttps://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1540210031/potomac/t3fw6u2toei2gmtqbxnd/2018-2019SchoolProfile.pdf
Georgetown Day Schoolhttp://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Regions-best-private-schools_02_26-40314672.html
St. Anselm's Schoolhttps://www.saintanselms.org/uploaded/College_Counseling/2017-2018_Class_Profile.pdf
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day Schoolhttps://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1537278506/cesjds/a030r8upxcxmlpincbyn/SchoolProfile2018-2019.pdf
The Heights Schoolhttps://heights.edu/quick-facts/
Washington International School (WIS)https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1539801306/wis/xswkfsz1j3gc3toxvqhv/Profile2018Website.pdf
Georgetown Preparatory Schoolhttps://www.gprep.org/about/fast-facts
Walt Whitman High Schoolhttps://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/whitmanhs/about/20182019%20Profile%20(1)(1).pdf
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (Visi)https://www.visi.org/uploaded/Academics/College_Counseling/2017-2018/Visitation_Academic_Profile_2017-2018_FINAL.pdf
Stone Ridge Schoolhttps://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1537403225/stoneridge/bncksws2gln13rsskqzu/StoneRidge_CollegeProfile_2018-2019.pdf
Bullis Schoolhttps://www.bullis.org/page.cfm?p=508
British Schoolhttps://img.nordangliaeducation.com/resources/asia/_filecache/c0f/98c/67094-senior-school-profile-2016.pdf
Montgomery Blair*https://mbhs.edu/departments/counseling/BlairProfile.pdf
Gonzaga College High Schoolhttps://gonzaga.myschoolapp.com/ftpimages/1021/download/download_2917256.pdf
Landon Schoolhttps://www.landon.net/uploaded/documents/college_counseling/School_Profile_2015-16_ForCollegeCounseling_10.2.15.pdf
Richard Montgomery High Schoolhttps://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/rmhs/aboutys/2018-2019%20%20Electronic%20%20RM_Profile%20Updated.pdf
Sandy Spring Friends Schoolhttps://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1553806609/sandyspring/k8xyuakyx6wl88y2swgt/SSFS_school_profile.pdf
Walter Johnson High Schoolhttps://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04427.pdf
Winston Churchill High Schoolhttps://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/churchillhs/counseling/Final%20Churchill%20HS%20Profile%202019.pdf
Madeira Schoolhttps://www.madeira.org/files/madeiracollegeprofile.pdf
School Without Wallshttps://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat
Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC) High Schoolhttps://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04406.pdf
Edmund Burke Schoolhttps://www.burkeschool.org/about-us/fast-facts
Thomas Wootton High Schoolhttps://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04234.pdf

2 National Merit Scholarship Semi-finalists. Calculated by dividing the number of 2018 class year National Merit Semi-finalists by the number of students in the 2018 class year.

3 Presidential Scholar Candidates. Calculated by dividing the number of 2018 class year presidential scholar candidates by the number of students in the 2018 class year.

4 Number attending 14 Top Colleges. This is an average of the percentage of students from each high school who went on to attend 14 top colleges from 2004 to 2014. The schools included were Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania. The methods of obtaining this information were inspired by three different studies and included collecting the high schools’ self-reports and viewbooks from the colleges. Education researcher Sam Tuo collected these data from 2004 to 2014.

*Note: Montgomery Blair was scored on the basis of its entire student body, rather than its magnet program alone, because magnet students at that school are mainstreamed in many classes.