Greenwich High School vaulted from No. 9 to No. 2 in Connecticut in U.S. News & World Report's 2026-27 Best High Schools Rankings, released Tuesday, Aug. 18. The school also placed 194th nationally out of nearly 18,000 public high schools evaluated.

The seven-spot jump, up from No. 9 in the 2025-26 edition, lands GHS ahead of neighboring Fairfield County rivals Weston (No. 3), Darien (No. 4), Staples in Westport (No. 5) and New Canaan (No. 6).

Only Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy in East Hartford, a 200-student interdistrict magnet school that requires every student to complete IB requirements, ranked higher statewide at No. 153 nationally. GHS enrolls about 2,500 students. It is one of the largest high schools in the state.

U.S. News evaluated schools on six performance indicators: college-level exam scores, college curriculum breadth, state assessment proficiency, math, reading and science scores, underserved student performance and graduation rates, according to Greenwich Time.

Connecticut overall had the fifth-highest percentage of top-ranked public high schools in the country, with 85 of its 200 featured schools landing in the top 25% nationally. Eighteen Connecticut schools placed in the top 5% and 37 in the top 10%.

Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones has pointed to the school's academic trajectory. In July, when announcing a new science program administrator, Jones said GHS was delivering "unprecedented performance." No district statement specifically addressing the new ranking was available as of Tuesday.

GHS Principal Ralph Mayo leads the school into the 2026-27 academic year, which begins Aug. 28.