Stonington -- Stonington High School has announced that it has been ranked among the top 10% of high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

The school was ranked 1,781 out of 18,000 schools and earned the publication’s Best High School in the U.S. designation, which is now displayed on the message board in front of the school.

At Thursday night's Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Van Riley told the board that school officials are so proud of the high school and presented an award plaque to Chairman Frank Todisco. Riley said the plaque will hang at the high school.

"They did an amazing job. I know the board, all of us have been looking at making sure that our schools get the recognition they deserve. This is certainly something he deserves," Riley said, referring to high school Principal Mark Friese. Riley also thanked Associate Principal Alicia Dawe and said the school has ordered a banner and other items signifying the honor.

The board then applauded his remarks.    

The school was included in the 2021 edition of the publication’s “Best High Schools in the United States.”

It was also ranked 36th of 205 high schools in the Connecticut rankings, and No. 3 among schools in the Norwich area. The Marine Science Magnet School in Groton was ranked second in the state and Lyme-Old Lyme 11th.

The high school received a scorecard of 90.03, with 54% of all students taking at least one AP exam, 45% of whom passed at least one AP Exam, and a graduation rate of 96%.

In his initial announcement of the award, Riley said, “These rankings reflect our commitment to our students. Our faculty and staff are best-in-class teachers, mentors, scholars, and most importantly, role models who work tirelessly to support our students in all of their endeavors whether they be in the classrooms, on the athletic fields, in the band room, and in all extracurricular activities, as well as student work study programs.” 

The school also announced that it has received several other high rankings such as 37th in the U.S. News & World Report College Readiness Index in Connecticut, 36th in Niche rankings for the Best Teachers in Connecticut,  the 2020 College Success Award by Great Schools based on its success in preparing students for college and careers, one of 373 schools in the United States and Canada on the annual AP District Honor Roll for increasing student AP participation while maintaining or increasing the school success rate and the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for having more than 50% female students taking the AP computer science exam.