Two SLPS high schools recognized among Missouri’s best in new rankings

Two St. Louis Public Schools magnet high schools top Missouri’s latest U.S. News & World Report rankings — and both landed among the top 100 nationally.

Metro Academic and Classical High School tops the rankings in Missouri and the St. Louis region. It ranks No. 22 nationally. Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience is No. 2 in both Missouri and the region and No. 90 nationally.

St. Louis-area schools took Missouri’s top four spots, with Clayton High School at No. 3 and Parkway West at No. 4. STEAM Academy at McCluer South-Berkeley in Ferguson-Florissant ranks No. 8 statewide and No. 6 in the metro area.

Other highlights from the 2026-27 rankings:

• Small schools, high rankings: Metro enrolls just 317 students in grades 9-12 and Collegiate 332. That’s far fewer than several highly ranked suburban schools. Parkway West has 1,417 students, Lafayette has 1,669 and Lindbergh has 2,304.
• Big college-readiness numbers: Metro had a 99% graduation rate and a college-readiness score of 91.2. Collegiate had a 96% graduation rate and an 88.0 readiness score. Clayton, the highest-ranked suburban school, had a 97% graduation rate and a 65.6 readiness score.
• North County cracks the top six: STEAM Academy ranks No. 6 among St. Louis-area schools and No. 842 nationally. That puts it ahead of Ladue Horton Watkins, which ranks No. 11 locally; Lindbergh, No. 12; Kirkwood, No. 17; and Webster Groves, No. 20. STEAM had a 98% graduation rate.
• SLPS has another top-15 regional school: McKinley Classical Leadership Academy ranks No. 13 in the St. Louis area and No. 1,462 nationally. Its graduation rate was 88%, with a college-readiness score of 25.8.
• The rankings aren’t apples-to-apples: Metro and Collegiate are academically selective magnet schools, unlike traditional neighborhood high schools. U.S. News gives the most weight to college readiness, which accounts for 30% of a school’s score. State test proficiency and performance account for 20% each. The remaining 30% is based equally on the breadth of college-level coursework, performance of Black, Hispanic and low-income students and graduation rates.
• The rankings come amid major changes at SLPS: The district is restructuring under its Future Ready plan as it deals with declining enrollment and financial pressures. SLPS expects to reduce the number of schools it operates from 62 to between 40 and 47 by the 2027-28 school year.
• Illinois’ highest-ranked area school: Edwardsville High School ranks No. 25 among St. Louis-area schools and No. 2,817 nationally.

This story was compiled with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

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