Summary:
Boston is home to 27 high schools serving roughly 17,651 students, ranging from small alternative settings such as Community Academy (58 students) to large exam schools like Boston Latin School (2,424). Grades served vary widely — 7–12, 9–12, 10–12, 11–12, and 12-only — so families should check each school's grade span. At the district level, Boston ranks 299 of 351, in the 15th percentile with 1 star; that describes the district overall, not any single school.
Academically, three exam schools stand far above the rest. Boston Latin School ranks 24 of 353 (93rd percentile, 5 stars), with a 99.0% graduation rate, 0.3% dropout, and all-grades proficiency of 86.05% ELA, 93.73% math, and 70.74% science. O'Bryant School of Math & Science (76 of 353, 78th percentile, 4 stars) posts 50% ELA, 66.36% math, and 49.03% science, with 98.2% graduation. Boston Latin Academy (104 of 353, 71st percentile, 4 stars) has 64.5% ELA, 52.83% math, and 45.78% science, with 98.9% graduation. Only these three exceed the state in all three all-grades subjects.
Elsewhere the picture is mixed. Some schools graduate students at high rates while posting low proficiency — East Boston High School graduates 94.6% but has just 9.13% ELA and 11.11% math — so graduation alone can mask academic gaps. Science is consistently the weakest subject, with an all-grades median of 8.2%. Spending and student-teacher ratios do not line up neatly with outcomes: Community Academy spends the most per student ($47,542) with a 45.0% graduation rate, while Boston Latin spends $21,850. Free/reduced-lunch data are blank for every school, and several schools have no current test scores, so those gaps are unknown, not zero.
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