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Out of curiosity I was wondering what the best high schools in the United States were in these two categories:
- High academic performance
- Diversity (racial, economic, political, religious, etc.)
A few top public high schools I know of that are also reasonably ethnically diverse:
LaGuardia HS in NYC (performing arts/academic)
Bard Early College HS in NYC
Central High in Philadelphia
Walter Payton in Chicago
Jones College Prep in Chicago
It’s an old story that most competitive public high schools are heavily white and Asian. These schools, relatively speaking, are not. I would hazard a guess that there could be more Black and Hispanc students at early college high schools for some reason. But that’s just a guess. Maybe people in other parts of the country might know.
Bronx Science - NYC
Stuyvesant - NYC
Whitney Young - Chicago
These schools are basically full of whiz kids. When I debated in high school, I knew that if we got matched with a NYC magnet school, it was game over for us. They had the math and science skills to get into the school in the first place, but were also exceptional at argumentation and philosophy. Most of them went to Harvard, Yale, etc.
Both Bronx Science and Stuyvesant are very heavily Asian. I don’t consider either one ethnically diverse and neither do most New Yorkers, up to and including the mayor.
Great schools? Without a doubt. Diverse? Not even close.
Out of curiosity I was wondering what the best high schools in the United States were in these two categories:
- High academic performance
- Diversity (racial, economic, political, religious, etc.)
Seattle's Garfield High School is an academic (and arts, and sports) powerhouse while also being truly diverse. It's a result of funneling the district's top 2% performing students into one central school since 1979 for efficiency in offering multiple advanced classes, while keeping both the school and advanced classes open to any student from the school's neighborhood zone that was historically minority and disadvantaged. The neighborhood has gentrified tremendously but there is still no single race or SES majority at the school.
We moved our kids from a private school across the country to attend Garfield for that reason.
Boston Latin is 46% white, 26% asian, 8% black, 13% hispanic. It's less White, more black, and more asian than the state as a whole.
US News has it at #33 in the country this year.
Both Bronx Science and Stuyvesant are very heavily Asian. I don’t consider either one ethnically diverse and neither do most New Yorkers, up to and including the mayor.
Great schools? Without a doubt. Diverse? Not even close.
And yes. Add Whitney Young to the list.
Whitney Young is 23% black, 16% Asian, 29% white, 28% Hispanic
It is also 43% economically disadvantaged.
How is that not diverse.
Some public high schools that fare well in the Chicago Area include:
Evanston Township High school where my ds and dd went to school
ETHS diversity
Ethnicity/Race (% of total)
American Indian/Alaskan Native 0.3%
Asian 6%
Black 29%
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander 0.1%
Hispanic 18%
White 44%
Two or More Races 2%
New Trier High School
Most of the top ranked schools are magnets and selective, but these are regular public schools. ETHS has always been diverse. New Trier is 85% white.
Northside Preparatory High School is also good
Diversity
Ethnicity/Race (% of total)
American Indian/Alaskan Native 0.3%
Asian 6%
Black 29%
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander 0.1%
Hispanic 18%
White 44%
Two or More Races 2%
I think that one would find that most of the magnet high schools don’t necessarily reflect the demographics of the neighborhood in which they are located. There’s a STEM magnet near me, and while it’s not a Stuyvesant High School or Bronx Science, it’s pretty well regarded. It’s located in a mostly white and Asian area, but it draws from all over the district. The diversity probably closely reflects the Atlanta Metro though.
What does diversity have to do with how good the school is?
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