{"id":221414,"date":"2026-08-21T04:59:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/north-alabama-schools-make-strong-showing-in-u-s-news-high-school-rankings-with-new-century-leading-the-way-256-today\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T04:59:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:59:25","slug":"north-alabama-schools-make-strong-showing-in-u-s-news-high-school-rankings-with-new-century-leading-the-way-256-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/north-alabama-schools-make-strong-showing-in-u-s-news-high-school-rankings-with-new-century-leading-the-way-256-today\/","title":{"rendered":"North Alabama schools make strong showing in U.S. News high school rankings with New Century leading the way &#8211; 256 Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/category\/business\/\"><strong>Business<\/strong><\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/culture\/\"><strong>Culture<\/strong><\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/community\/\"><strong>Community<\/strong><\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/featured\/\"><strong>Features<\/strong><\/a><br \/>Menu<br \/><a aria-role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Close Modal\" href=\"#\">\u00d7<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/business\/\">Business<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/culture\/\">Culture<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/community\/\">Community<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/featured\/\">Features<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/about\/\">About Us<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/fact-checking-policy\/\">Fact Checking Policy<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/advertise-with-us\/\">Advertising<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/contact\/\">Contact Us<\/a><br \/> \t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/256today.com\/category\/education\/\" class=\"fw-section-title__link\">Education<\/a> \t\t<br \/>\u2014<br \/>Share:<br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https:\/\/256today.com\/north-alabama-schools-make-strong-showing-in-u-s-news-high-school-rankings-with-new-century-leading-the-way\/&#038;text=North Alabama schools make strong showing in U.S. News high school rankings with New Century leading the way&#038;via=yhn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a> <br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=false&#038;url=https:\/\/256today.com\/north-alabama-schools-make-strong-showing-in-u-s-news-high-school-rankings-with-new-century-leading-the-way\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">LinkedIn<\/a> <br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/256today.com\/north-alabama-schools-make-strong-showing-in-u-s-news-high-school-rankings-with-new-century-leading-the-way\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a> <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/256today.com\/dale-strong-announces-21-north-alabama-students-headed-to-u-s-service-academies\/\">North Alabama schools<\/a> made their presence known in the latest <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/education\/best-high-schools\/national-rankings\">U.S. News &amp; World Report<\/a><\/em> rankings of the nation\u2019s best public high schools, with eight area schools landing among Alabama\u2019s top 20.<br \/>Leading the way is Huntsville\u2019s New Century Tech High School, which claimed the No. 1 spot in Alabama. Huntsville City Schools congratulated the school on its ranking in a social media post.<br \/><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FnewcenturytechnologyHS%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0WNBtRsuaLF7FK4wjo9eWKfYMZYsM88PxHY2SCWYwwPLRKeMX8EapqwFHi65Qe7Ttl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>The Huntsville City Schools magnet school focuses on advanced studies, technology and industry experience. It has an enrollment of 366 students in grades 9-12 and received a college readiness score of 72.7 in the <em data-start=\"1382\" data-end=\"1393\">U.S. News<\/em> rankings.<br \/>New Century\u2019s showing extended well beyond the state rankings. The school placed No. 131 nationally among nearly 18,000 public high schools receiving numerical rankings from <em data-start=\"1579\" data-end=\"1590\">U.S. News<\/em>.<br \/>And Alabama had more success on the national list. New Century was one of 10 schools in the state to finish among the nation\u2019s top 1,000.<br \/>Back home, North Alabama schools filled several of the highest spots on the Alabama list.<br \/>James Clemens High School in Madison came in at No. 9, followed by Arab High School at No. 10. Huntsville High School was No. 11, while Bob Jones High School in Madison ranked No. 13.<br \/>Cullman High School ranked No. 17, Madison County High School in Gurley was No. 18 and Hartselle High School came in at No. 19.<br \/>Together with New Century, that gives North Alabama eight of the state\u2019s top 20 schools.<br \/>The region\u2019s presence continued farther down the list. Plainview School in Rainsville ranked No. 25, followed by Huntsville\u2019s Virgil Grissom High School at No. 28.<br \/>Athens High School came in at No. 43, while Muscle Shoals High School ranked No. 53.<br \/>Several more North Alabama schools appeared between Nos. 60 and 80:<br \/><em data-start=\"2778\" data-end=\"2789\">U.S. News<\/em> included data on more than 27,000 public high schools across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 18,000 received numerical rankings.<br \/>Schools are judged on six measures, including college readiness, state assessment results, graduation rates and the performance of underserved students. College readiness carries the most weight at 30% and considers both AP or IB participation among 12th-graders and the percentage who earn qualifying exam scores.<br \/>State assessment proficiency and performance each account for 20%, while college curriculum breadth, underserved student performance and graduation rate each account for 10%.<br \/>New Century may have claimed Alabama\u2019s top spot, but the rankings show North Alabama\u2019s success was hardly limited to one school.<br \/><em>Sherri Blevins is a reporter for 256 Today.<\/em><br \/><em>Got a tip for OTR? Send your tip to <\/em><a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#a9ddc0d9e99b9c9fddc6cdc8d087cac6c4\"><em><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"1b6f726b5b292e2d6f747f7a6235787476\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/em><\/a><em> with related photo\/video, your name, phone number, and e-mail address.<\/em><br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Mecca Musick<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<em>2 days ago<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\tNorth Alabama high school students considering a future at one of the nation\u2019s military service academies will have an opportunity Saturday to learn more about the path from application to [&hellip;]\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Mecca Musick<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<em>2 days ago<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\tOne of Huntsville\u2019s homegrown technology success stories is putting $250,000 behind Alabama\u2019s next generation of cyber and engineering talent and bringing some of those students directly into the workplace.\u00a0 PROJECTXYZ [&hellip;]\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Zachary Austin<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t<em>2 weeks ago<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Michael Yaffee<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t<em>July 07, 2026<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Staff reports<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t<em>July 07, 2026<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Sherri Blevins<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t<em>June 25, 2026<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Mecca Musick<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t<em>May 18, 2026<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fw-hstack fw-hstack--small fw-hstack--always fw-hstack--wrap\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Sherri Blevins<\/span> <span>\u2014<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t<em>May 08, 2026<\/em> \t\t\t\t\t<\/span> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/>Next Post<br \/>Rooted in the communities we call home, our dedicated local team delivers the North Alabama news that truly impacts your daily life. From business and government to workforce and culture, this is where you\u2019ll find the stories shaping our region.<br \/><a href=\"\/about\/\">About<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/fact-checking-policy\/\">Fact Checking Policy<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/advertise-with-us\/\">Advertising<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/contact\/\">Contact Us<\/a><br \/>\u00a9 2026 256 Today<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiyAFBVV95cUxOZzUzaGQzdGdSSUp0d0REbmtXSGJjQWstUGdIZjJPb1lSX2t6RF9ESmN3eUozejFZaWZ2ekg0ZnpFeWxkYzUtRnU3MlY2TDVPVDNUTklBNjJJUW5fQXBsOEs2UW5MMnVra3ZTZ0dobUtlRXJ4XzJFZUxlcm9OcUNDM1Z0cDJSUGViUTZnSmp6aEs2Nm1YT0lpNUNHRGdySFlROHpGd0Ffa21TdTJXVTlpQzBYR1FRR1djaXJEQTF2RmZ1R1lHdzZ3NQ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BusinessCultureCommunityFeaturesMenu\u00d7BusinessCultureCommunityFeaturesAbout UsFact Checking PolicyAdvertisingContact Us Education \u2014Share: Twitter LinkedIn Facebook North Alabama schools made their presence known in the latest U.S. News &amp; World Report rankings of the nation\u2019s best public high schools, with eight area schools landing among Alabama\u2019s top 20.Leading the way is Huntsville\u2019s New Century Tech High School, which claimed the No. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}