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US News & World Report Ranks Georgia's Top 10 High Schools for 2026
S. News & World Report released its latest rankings of the best high schools in Georgia, with Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology placing first. The list includes schools from Lawrenceville to Savannah, with detailed metrics on graduation, proficiency, and AP exam participation.
By Tertius News AI Desk1 distinct · 3 mastheads · 5 articlesVersion 1Coverage Published
Georgia's Top High Schools for 2026, According to US News
S. News & World Report has released its latest rankings of the best high schools in the nation, and Georgia's 522 ranked schools have a new top 10. A version of the rankings that appeared across several regional publications was updated on Aug. 19, 2026, at 2:07 m. ET; other formats noted the release happened the previous week or on a Tuesday, reflecting the same ranking event.
The rankings are based on a score out of 100, computed in partnership with RTI International. The scoring weights are 30% for college readiness, 20% for state assessment proficiency and state assessment performance, and 10% each for college curriculum breadth, underserved student performance, and graduation rate.
Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology in Lawrenceville tops the Georgia list, ranking 7th nationally and 12th among STEM high schools in the S. The school reports a 100% graduation rate, 99% science proficiency, 98% reading proficiency, and 30% math proficiency, with 100% of students taking at least one AP exam and 99% passing at least one.
Columbus High School ranks second in Georgia and 70th nationally, with a 100% graduation rate, 97% math proficiency, 94% reading proficiency, and 88% science proficiency. A97% of its students took at least one AP exam, and 85% passed.
Third place goes to Innovation Academy in Alpharetta, which ranks 112th nationally. It reports a 98% graduation rate, 91% science proficiency, 88% reading proficiency, and 82% math proficiency, with 98% exam AP participation and 89% passing.
Davidson Fine Arts in Augusta ranks fourth and 124th nationally, reporting a 100% graduation rate, 90% math proficiency, 88% reading proficiency, and 83% science proficiency. Its AP participation is 97%, with a pass rate of 71%.
Alliance Academy for Innovation in Cumming takes fifth, ranking 154th nationally. With a 100% graduation rate, 92% reading proficiency, 90% science proficiency, and 89% math proficiency, 87% of its students took at least one AP exam and 71% passed.
The rest of the top 10 includes:
Elite Scholars Academy in Jonesboro (6th in Georgia, 227th nationally), with a 100% graduation rate, 94% math proficiency, 92% science proficiency, 89% reading proficiency, 76% AP participation, and 54% pass rate.
DeKalb School of the Arts in Avondale Estates (7th, 257th nationally), with a 97% graduation rate, 86% reading proficiency, 66% science proficiency, 49% math proficiency, 100% AP participation, and 76% pass rate.
Northview High School in Johns Creek (8th, 318th nationally), with a 98% graduation rate, 80% reading proficiency, 76% science proficiency, 72% math proficiency, 80% AP participation, and 70% pass rate.
Lambert High School in Suwanee (9th, 349th nationally), with a 98% graduation rate, 83% reading and science proficiency, 69% math proficiency, 79% AP participation, and 69% pass rate.
Savannah Arts in Savannah (10th, 361st nationally), with a 99% graduation rate, 80% reading proficiency, 75% science proficiency, 31% math proficiency, 98% AP participation, and 77% pass rate.
The list was compiled from reports by the Augusta Chronicle, Athens Banner-Herald, and Savannah Morning News, with the same top 10 appearing in each. Some articles were written by Miguel Legoas, a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for USA Today.
How each outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
Framing: US News ranks top Georgia high schools; stresses seeing the 2026 list. — Informative listicle ('Here are the top 10')
Framing: Emphasizes 'the 10 best high schools in Georgia' and US News rankings as a reveal — Conversational-informative — 'which ones are top of the class?'; 'Here are the Peach State's top 10'
Facts Included:
Updated Aug. 19, 2026, 2:07 p.m. ET
U.S. News & World Report released latest national best high schools rankings on Tuesday
Partnered with RTI International to compute overall score out of 100
Same scoring weights: 30% college readiness, 20% state assessment proficiency and performance, 10% each for college curriculum breadth, underserved student performance, graduation rate
Same top 10 Georgia schools with same locations, national ranks, and score details as other versions
Byline: Miguel Legoas, Deep South Connect Team Reporter for USA Today
Framing: US News top Georgia high schools and 2026 list—same headline family as Savannah/alternate Augusta body. — Measured-informative list delivery
Framing: Same as companion piece: 'The 10 best high schools in Georgia' plus US News rankings cue; year not in headline. — Conversational-informative, matching the shared body ('top of the class')
Facts Included:
Same body as Augusta Chronicle 6c18496b: Aug. 19, 2026 update time
Tuesday U.S. News release; RTI International partnership
Same methodology weights and full top 10 school stats
Framing: Emphasizes US News ranking of top Georgia high schools and invites readers to see the 2026 list; does not highlight methodology or a local school in the headline. — Informative/promotional listicle — 'See the 2026 list'; 'Here are the top 10'
Facts Included:
U.S. News & World Report ranked best high schools in Georgia last week
Overall score out of 100: 30% college readiness, 20% state assessment proficiency and performance, 10% each for college curriculum breadth, underserved student performance, and graduation rate
522 Georgia schools included
Top 10 listed with locations, national ranks, graduation rates, subject proficiencies, and AP exam take/pass rates
1st: Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (Lawrenceville) — 7th nationally, 12th STEM; 100% grad, 99% science, 98% reading, 30% math; 100% took AP, 99% passed
2nd: Columbus High School — 70th nationally; 100% grad, 97% math, 94% reading, 88% science; 97% took AP, 85% passed
3rd: Innovation Academy (Alpharetta) — 112th nationally
4th: Davidson Fine Arts (Augusta) — 124th nationally
5th: Alliance Academy for Innovation (Cumming) — 154th nationally
6th: Elite Scholars Academy (Jonesboro) — 227th nationally
7th: DeKalb School of the Arts (Avondale Estates) — 257th nationally
8th: Northview High School (Johns Creek) — 318th nationally
9th: Lambert High School (Suwanee) — 349th nationally
10th: Savannah Arts (Savannah) — 361st nationally; 99% grad, 80% reading, 75% science, 31% math; 98% took AP, 77% passed
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimU.S. News & World Report ranked the best high schools in Georgia last week.
ClaimThe overall score for each school is out of 100, with 30% based on college readiness, 20% based on state assessment proficiency and state assessment performance, and 10% each for college curriculum breadth, underserved student performance, and graduation rate.
ClaimGwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology has a 100% graduation rate, 99% science proficiency, 98% reading proficiency, 30% math proficiency, 100% of students took at least one AP exam, and 99% passed at least one.
ClaimColumbus High School has a 100% graduation rate, 97% math proficiency, 94% reading proficiency, 88% science proficiency, 97% of students took at least one AP exam, and 85% passed at least one.
ClaimInnovation Academy has a 98% graduation rate, 91% science proficiency, 88% reading proficiency, 82% math proficiency, 98% of students took at least one AP exam, and 89% passed at least one.
ClaimDavidson Fine Arts has a 100% graduation rate, 90% math proficiency, 88% reading proficiency, 83% science proficiency, 97% of students took at least one AP exam, and 71% passed at least one.
ClaimAlliance Academy for Innovation has a 100% graduation rate, 92% reading proficiency, 90% science proficiency, 89% math proficiency, 87% of students took at least one AP exam, and 71% passed at least one.
ClaimElite Scholars Academy has a 100% graduation rate, 94% math proficiency, 92% science proficiency, 89% reading proficiency, 76% of students took at least one AP exam, and 54% passed at least one.
ClaimDeKalb School of the Arts has a 97% graduation rate, 86% reading proficiency, 66% science proficiency, 49% math proficiency, 100% of students took at least one AP exam, and 76% passed at least one.
ClaimNorthview High School has a 98% graduation rate, 80% reading proficiency, 76% science proficiency, 72% math proficiency, 80% of students took at least one AP exam, and 70% passed at least one.
ClaimLambert High School has a 98% graduation rate, 83% reading and science proficiencies, 69% math proficiency, 79% of students took at least one AP exam, and 69% passed at least one.
ClaimSavannah Arts has a 99% graduation rate, 80% reading proficiency, 75% science proficiency, 31% math proficiency, 98% of students took at least one AP exam, and 77% passed at least one.