2023 Update: The Best Public High Schools in Boston
An update of 2022 Best Public High Schools in Boston
I was supposed to head back to Singapore this Dec for 3 weeks, but my plans changed and given that I now find myself with lots of time on my hands, I’ve decided work stronger/faster/harder before the year ends.
And I’m glad to be working on this update of my annual publication on the best high schools in Boston! Gonna get a head start on this coz come Jan 2024 I’m bound to be quizzed by clients.
Defining “Schools in Boston”
We use “Boston” loosely here.
It’s actually a reference to a broad geographical area - Greater Boston - and does not specifically point to downtown Boston, or the 23 neighborhoods of Boston as defined by Boston City.
Here’s a helpful visual of Greater Boston:
Websites to Research Schools in Boston
There are a couple of resources that I point my clients to for their research of schools in Boston.
A popular one is GreatSchools.org, which comes with a neat search bar for the level of schooling plus specific area that one is looking at. There’s a Likert scale for each school and a map of schools nearby.
Overall, a pretty nice UX!
In my experience, buyers who are looking to buy in a neighborhood for public schooling reasons don’t often put too much weight into elementary and middle school ratings.
They look at high school ratings, because quite often there’s a correlation there too - high school ratings tend to reflect the same standards in the elementary and middle levels.
That’s where I point my clients to Boston Magazine’s “Best Public High Schools in Boston” chart, because they could look specifically at breakdowns like SAT scores and graduation rates.
Here’s a screenshot of the page, edited for brevity:
I’ve come to realize however, that pointing someone who is relocating from another state to this page isn’t exactly helpful because… how would a non-local know where these towns are relative to downtown Boston?
Yes there’s always a way to Google for locations, but could I do a better job?
Well, I could Google for you 😉
Where are the best public high schools in Boston?
The best public high schools in Boston are not located in Boston city. They are not even in towns serviced by the metro, or “T”, as Bostonians call it. The best public schools are in the suburbs of Greater Boston.
Here’s a pinned Google Maps image of the top 20 schools as ranked by Boston Magazine:
4 schools broke into the Top 20 list this year - Norwell (#13), Northborough and Southborough (#18), Newton North (#19) and Bedford (#20) - yet the geographical distribution remains relatively unchanged.
The best MA schools are still in the suburbs.
The best MA schools are not within reasonable walking/running/biking distance to Cambridge, Downtown Boston or the Seaport.
For those of you in biotech and are required to work at research labs in Kendall Square, the closest town Winchester (#10), is 9.4 miles away. You’d probably drive. 🤷🏻♀️
And for reference of where our trains run, here’s an embedded map:
Purple lines are commuter rails that extend to the suburbs. Blue, Orange and Red lines are subway trains. Green lines are light rails (they go slower). The Silver line (it looks grey on the map) are buses.
When you’re done comparing these two maps, you’ll realize that none of the pinned towns are serviced by subway trains. A handful aren’t even serviced by commuter rails.
What does it mean if you need to work in the city?
It means:
You need to drive to work.
Your commute will be no less than 30 mins in peak traffic. It takes me 1.5 hours to get from Littleton to downtown Boston in morning traffic (which starts at 6:15am). I buffer 2 hours for accidents on the highway.
If you’re not willing to deal, the commuter train is an option. But it runs on an hourly schedule and you’ve got to get to the station ahead of time to secure limited parking. Littleton to North Station (TD Garden) takes approximately 1hr on the commuter train. Plenty of seats; relatively conducive for sleeping, reading or working.
Still no deal? Unfortunately you’d have to consider changing your job. Most living in the suburbs work remotely.
20 Public high schools near Littleton that I watch
P3Y Rankings as reflected by Boston Magazine’s “Best Public High Schools in Boston”.
