Top High Schools in Virginia

Virginia's school system is generally strong — the state's high concentration of highly educated federal employees and defense contractors in Northern Virginia has driven some of the finest suburban public schools in the US.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Alexandria)
Consistently ranked the #1 public high school in the US by US News & World Report — TJ (as it's known) is a regional Governor's School for students in Northern Virginia's technology corridor. Admission is competitive; the curriculum emphasizes STEM research at an extremely high level. Graduates go to MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and the Ivies at extraordinary rates. The school's research laboratories (in molecular biology, applied mathematics, and computer science) are equivalent to many university departments.

Maggie L. Walker Governor's School (Richmond)
Virginia's governor's school for government and international studies — a selective magnet school in Richmond serving students from the greater Richmond region. Strong in social sciences, languages, and law-related programs.

Langley High School and McLean High School (Fairfax County)
The top conventional public high schools in Fairfax County — the county has 200+ schools in what is among the largest and most well-funded school districts in the US. Langley and McLean serve some of the county's most affluent communities (CIA headquarters is in Langley's attendance zone).

Collegiate School (Richmond)
The top independent school in Richmond — a K-12 school with extraordinary college placement (Ivy League, Duke, UVA) and a heritage of academic excellence dating to 1915.

Woodberry Forest School (Orange)
A selective all-boys boarding school in the Virginia Piedmont — consistently ranked among the top boarding schools in the Southeast. The Honor System and the strong college placement record (including multiple Ivies per class) make it a significant institution.