Virginia's Best School Districts 2020: New Rankings Released

VIRGINIA — Data compiler Niche has ranked Virginia's best school districts for the 2019-2020 school year. The rankings were released Monday as part of the website's 2020 K-12 rankings.

Each Virginia school district received a letter grade in the following categories: Academics; Diversity; Teachers; College Prep; Clubs & Activities; Health & Safety; Administration; Sports; Food; and Resources & Facilities.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

The top-ranked school district in Virginia is Arlington Public Schools. Niche gave the school system an A or an A+ in every category. Last year, Arlington was also No. 1. (See last year's list as a comparison: Virginia's Best School Districts: New Rankings Released)

Here the top 50 from the list of top school districts in Virginia as ranked by Niche.com:

1. Arlington Public Schools
2. Falls Church City Public Schools
3. West Point Public Schools
4. Loudoun County Public Schools
5. Albemarle County Public Schools
6. Fairfax County Public Schools
7. York County School Division
8. Charlottesville City Schools
9. Virginia Beach City Public Schools
10. Chesapeake Public Schools
11. Goochland County Public Schools
12. Roanoke County Public Schools
13. Rockingham County Public Schools
14. Poquoson City Public Schools
15. Salem City Schools
16. Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools
17. Montgomery County Public Schools
18. Hanover County Public Schools
19. Colonial Heights City Public Schools
20. Chesterfield County Public Schools
21. Wise County Public Schools
22. Powhatan County Public Schools
23. Henrico County Public Schools
24. Richmond County Public Schools
25. Stafford County Public Schools
26. Prince William County Public Schools
27. Louisa County Public Schools
28. King George County Public Schools
29. Botetourt County Public Schools
30. Fauquier County Public Schools
31. Pittsylvania County Public Schools
32. Washington County Public Schools
33. Franklin County Public Schools
34. Frederick County Public Schools
35. Winchester City Public Schools
36. Rockbridge County Public Schools
37. Appomattox County Public Schools
38. Fluvanna County Public Schools
39. Prince George County Public Schools
40. Charlotte County Public Schools
41. Carroll County Public Schools
42. Harrisonburg City Public Schools
43. Isle of Wight County Public Schools
44. New Kent County Public Schools
45. Alexandria City Public Schools
46. Patrick County Public Schools
47. Dinwiddie County Public Schools
48. Spotsylvania County Public Schools
49. Staunton City Public Schools
50. Clarke County Public Schools

Niche looked at more than 94,000 public schools, 4,100 private schools and nearly 11,000 school districts across the country. The rankings are meant to help parents and students find schools that best fit their needs.

“Unlike traditional school rankings, which rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance, Niche’s rankings provide a real-life view of what it’s like to attend a given school,” the company said in a news release.

Comments from current students, alumni, and parents are included in the analysis, as well as observations about things like campus life, extracurricular activities, sports options, diversity, and programs for gifted and special needs students.

“Parents and students need more than test-score data,” Luke Skurman, CEO at Niche, said in the news release. “They need to understand what it’s really like to attend a school before they start the application or registration process.”