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These are the top 20 school districts in Suffolk County for 2025

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Suffolk County schools again shined in the 2025 Best Schools in America report by Niche, with seven districts landing in the top 50 in New York state.

Leading the pack for Suffolk is Half Hollow Hills, ranked No. 6 in the state and an impressive No. 20 in the United States. The district, which serves 7,221 and boasts a 96% graduation rate, earned an overall grade of A+ from Niche, a platform that provides in-depth analysis of schools and neighborhoods across the country.

Three Village Central School District also secured a high ranking, coming in at No. 20 in New York state. Cold Spring Harbor followed closely at No. 27, with Harborfields, Commack, South Huntington, and Westhampton Beach also placing among the top 50 districts in New York, according to the report.

Among Suffolk’s top-performing districts, six earned an overall grade of A+ from Niche, which provides rankings based on a variety of factors, including academic performance, teacher quality, student diversity, and feedback from students and parents.

Below is a breakdown of Suffolk’s top 20 school districts in the Niche report.

1. Half Hollow Hills

Students from Half Hollow Hills East High School, during an event at school earlier this month (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A+
Graduation rate: 96%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $32,461

2. Three Village

Ward Melville High School students in class, earlier this month (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A+
Graduation rate: 97%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $34,112

3. Cold Spring Harbor

Cold Spring Harbor High School students taking part in a hallway art project this month (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A+
Graduation rate: 98%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $24,847

4. Elwood

A number of John Glenn High School musicians earned All-County honors (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A+
Graduation rate: 95%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $29,339

5. Harborfields

Members of Harborfields High School’s Class of 2024 enjoying commencement exercises in June (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A+
Graduation rate: 99%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $29,048

6. Commack

CHS lead technology teacher Thomas Shea’s civil engineering class put its knowledge to work during a morning class on Monday (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A+
Graduation rate: 97%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $29,788

7. South Huntington

The Walt Whitman High School varsity cheer squad at a football game in September.

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 91%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $30,753

8. Westhampton Beach

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 89%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $29,263

9. Smithtown

Smithtown High School East’s hosted its 109th commencement ceremony in June (Smithtown Public Schools).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 97%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $23,518

10. Mount Sinai

Members of Mount Sinai’s Class of 2024 who are playing college sports this year (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 97%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $26,056

11. Hauppauge

Hauppauge High School 2024 girls cross country team (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 96%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $34,081

12. Bay Shore

A Bay Shore High School graduate celebrates at commencement in June (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 89%
Niche teachers grade: A
Expenditure per student: $28,766

13. Northport-East Northport

Fourth-grade students in Northport-East Northport elementary schools recently participated in activities utilizing interactive coding robots called Spheros. Using their Chromebooks, students employed block coding to program the robots to navigate a hand drawn city that they created (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 96%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $33,463

14. Port Jefferson

(Facebook)

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 100%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $43,438

15. Shoreham-Wading River

Shoreham-Wading River elementary school students during an assembly this month (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 99%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $33,202

16. Kings Park

(Facebook)

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 99%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $30,468

17. Deer Park

Students outside Deer Park High School (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 95%
Niche teachers grade: A-
Expenditure per student: $27,636

18. Lindenhurst

Lindenhurst cosmetology students at the high school’s new cosmetology lab last week (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 93%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $26,654

19. Southampton

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 87%
Niche teachers grade: A
Expenditure per student: $47,259

20. Bayport-Blue Point

Bayport-Blue High School football team members celebrate during a game this September (Facebook).

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 98%
Niche teachers grade: A-
Expenditure per student: $37,836

21. Mattituck-Cutchogue

Overall Niche grade: A
Graduation rate: 88%
Niche teachers grade: A+
Expenditure per student: $36,518

The New York State Department of Education is the source for the graduation and expenditure statistics.

Top photo: Cold Spring Harbor students during pre-game festivities for the district’s Remembrance Bowl football game in September (Facebook).

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