The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology in Lawrenceville has been named the No. 7 public high school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, moving up six spots from last year in rankings released Aug. 18 that evaluate nearly 18,000 schools using academic and student-outcome data.

The school was the only Georgia school to break into the national top 10 in the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings, giving Metro Atlanta a spot among the highest-ranked public high schools in the country.

LaMont Jones, Ed.D., managing editor for education at U.S. News & World Report, said the rankings are designed to give families fact-based information they can use when considering schools.

“When you know we do these rankings in U.S. News, whether it’s the best colleges, or global universities, or even high schools,” Jones said, “the objective is to get important data, fact-based information to parents and students to help them make the best decisions they can about where they want to send their kids to school.”

This year, U.S. News evaluated more than 27,000 eligible public high schools across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., ultimately ranking nearly 18,000.

The rankings are based entirely on quantitative data rather than school visits or observations of classrooms, teachers or facilities. U.S. News worked with RTI International, a global nonprofit social science research firm, to evaluate the schools using data from sources including state departments of education and the College Board.

Six factors make up the rankings.

College readiness accounts for 30 percent and measures the proportion of seniors who took and earned a qualifying score on at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam.

State assessment proficiency accounts for 20 percent of the ranking and is based on aggregated math, science and reading scores. Another 20 percent measures state assessment performance, looking at how students performed relative to expectations based on the school’s proportion of underserved students.

Underserved student performance accounts for 10 percent. It compares the performance of Hispanic, Black and low-income students at a school with non-underserved students in the same state. Jones said the measure helps account for differences in the populations schools serve.

“It’s a way of accounting for those [demographic]  factors because they can make a difference,” Jones said.

College curriculum breadth accounts for another 10 percent, while graduation rate makes up the remaining 10 percent.

Jones emphasized that the rankings do not attempt to measure every aspect of a school.

“We make it clear that our [data] is… basically all… quantitative data that’s verifiable and objective,” he said. “We don’t have” some of the qualitative information that could come from observing student engagement, teaching or school facilities.

The top three schools nationally were Central Magnet School in Tennessee, Signature School in Indiana and Julia R. Masterman Secondary School in Pennsylvania.

The school ranked immediately ahead of Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology was Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia at No. 6. The School for the Talented and Gifted in Texas followed at No. 8.

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology also ranked No. 12 nationally among STEM high schools. Jones pointed to several measures that helped propel the school from No. 13 to No. 7 overall.

The school tied for first nationally in both graduation rate and state assessment proficiency and a 99 percent science proficiency score. It ranked No. 42 nationally for college readiness and No. 26 for college curriculum breadth. Click here to see the complete list of rankings.

“They’re getting those students ready for college like few other schools,” Jones said. “They should be proud. Atlanta should be proud. Georgia should be proud.”

Still, Jones cautioned families against treating the rankings as the final word.

“We have found, based on feedback from readers… [of] U.S. News that these rankings are a great starting point,” he said.

Families can use the rankings to compare schools and then consider other factors that matter to their individual circumstances, Jones said.

“They’re a starting point,” he said. “Think about your personal preferences, your personal financial situation, whatever is personal for you and your family, and use this as a starting point to help you make your decision.”

For Metro Atlanta, however, one thing is clear: A school in Lawrenceville is now officially among the nation’s top 10 public high schools.

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