Niche has just released its 2021 ‘Best Schools’ rankings, and both Conard and Hall received A+ grades and rank in the top 10 in Connecticut.

By Ronni Newton

Search platform Niche has just released its rankings of the 2021 “Best Schools” and West Hartford’s Conard and Hall High Schools are both included in the top 10 among public high schools in the state, with both earning an A+ grade.

Conard ranked No. 7 and Hall is ranked No. 8 in this year’s report, which ranked more than 200 public traditional, charter, and magnet schools in the state.

“It is tremendous validation of the high esteem that Conard and Hall are held in, not just in Connecticut but across the country,” Superintendent Tom Moore said. “This is the result when we systematically believe in the possibilities of every child, and in the hard work of our students and our staff, across all grade levels.”

The ratings, according to Niche, are based on a “rigorous analysis of academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with test scores, college data, and ratings collected from millions of Niche users.”

All of the schools in Connecticut that received a higher ranking are located in Fairfield County, with Staples, Darien, and New Canaan high schools in the top three spots.

Both Conard and Hall were noted for their academics, culture/safety, and the diversity of the student body, as well as the variety of available clubs and activities.

“West Hartford is a special place,” Moore said.

Niche combines not only hard data but also user input to develop its rankings, according to its website, “does rigorous cleaning and analysis on large data sets, and combines them with feedback from our community for nuanced insight that can’t be found anywhere else.”

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