Five Henrico high schools ranked among the best in Virginia and nation

Five Henrico County public high schools were ranked in the top 100 of “Best Virginia High Schools” and listed in the “2023-2024 Best U.S. High Schools” by U.S. News & World Report.

Deep Run High School placed 11th out of 322 ranked schools in Virginia, while Mills E. Godwin High School placed 24th, Glen Allen High School 25th, Douglas S. Freeman High School 71st, and J.R. Tucker High School 99th. All five schools are in the West End.

The five schools also placed in the top 40% of the 17,680 schools ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report. Three schools – Deep Run (567th), Godwin (977th), and Glen Allen (990th) – were among the top 6% of high schools in the U.S.

Deep Run Principal Brian Fellows celebrated the school’s ranking on social media.

“Very proud of our Deep Run School Community!” Fellows wrote. “Our students, teachers, staff, and parents/caregivers are the best! Deep Run is a special place!”

The U.S. News annual rankings are based on schools’ performance on state assessments, proficiency rates of a school’s least-advantage student groups on state tests, graduation rates, and how a school prepares students for college, based on Advanced Placement exams.

U.S. News also factors in whether a school exceeds statistical expectations based on its relative level of student poverty when calculating school performance.

While the top of the “Best Virginia High Schools” list was largely dominated by Northern Virginia schools, three Henrico schools – Deep Run, Godwin, and Glen Allen – made it into the top 30 of this list. The three schools were ranked the top three high schools in Central Virginia, excluding alternative schools in the region.

Two high schools in Richmond City Public Schools were ranked in the top ten of “Best Virginia High Schools”: Open High School placed second and Richmond Community High School placed third.

U.S. News also recognized Deep Run, Godwin, Glen Allen, and Freeman for their specialty centers, ranking among the best comparable magnet schools in the country.

Deep Run houses the Center for Information Technology; Godwin has the Center for Medical Sciences; Glen Allen has the Center for Education and Human Development; and Freeman hosts the Center for Leadership, Government and Global Economics.

– Citizen education reporter Liana Hardy contributed to this article.