Conard is no. 4 and Hall is no. 12, and both are in the top 500 nationally in the 2015 U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of more than 29,000 public high schools.

By Ronni Newton

The annual ranking of public high schools was announced Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report, and once again both Conard and Hall appeared not only in the top 15 for Connecticut schools, but also earned gold medal distinction for ranking in the top 500 of schools nationwide. In 2015, Conard is ranked no. 4 and Hall is ranked no. 12 in the state.

Conard’s national ranking for 2015 is no. 203, and Hall is ranked no. 450. The gold medal distinction is awarded to all schools ranked in the top 500 nationally.

Superintendent of Schools Tom Moore is very pleased with the continued high rankings received by West Hartford’s high schools, and said he is excited about the great work being done by the teachers, students, and administrators.

“They’re both great high schools and we’re glad to get that validation. It’s a great reflection that West Hartford believes in our schools and supports our schools,” Moore said.

“When magnet and charter schools are removed, our schools are first and eighth in the state, respectively. While all rankings are inherently subjective, the criteria for this ranking system goes a little deeper than most. Connecticut has 14 gold medal schools, and I assure you that we are the only town with two of them!” Moore said in an email.

“Congratulations to our teachers, students, families, and [Hall Principal] Dan [Zittoun] and [Conard Principal] Julio [Duarte] for a job well done!” Moore said in his email.

In 2014, Conard was ranked no. 5 and Hall was ranked no. 11 in the state. Both were also gold medal schools in 2014, with Conard ranked no. 252 and Hall ranked no. 352.

Conard’s high ranking for 2015 is in part due to the school’s score in the “College Readiness” category. Conard earned a 68.1 rating in that category, based on 81 percent of 12th graders taking AP Exams and 64 percent earning a passing score. Hall also earned high marks for “College Readiness” with a 54.2 (62 percent tested and 51 percent passing).

A total of 29,070 public high schools throughout the country were reviewed using methodology developed by North Carolina-based RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, according to the magazine.

The rankings follow a three-step process, with the first two focused on the schools’ performance on math and reading parts of their state’s proficiency tests. Schools that make it through the first two steps are ranked based on the “degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work,” according to U.S. News & World Report.

Click here for the complete list of Connecticut high school rankings.