Thursday, October 1, 2026
North Shore High School has been named the second-best high school in Nassau County and the 11th-best in New York state by U.S. News & World Report, a recognition that district officials said reflects years of work focused on expanding academic opportunities while supporting students.
They added that while the recognition is worth celebrating, rankings are not the North Shore School District’s primary measure of success.
CarolAnn Smyth, assistant superintendent for instruction, said that the district has seen an increase in the number of students enrolling in and succeeding in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. “I think that’s one factor,” Smyth said, “and I do think, over the years, we’ve put a lot of work into just building up students’ literacy and math readiness and proficiency, so that when they get to the high school, they’re prepared to do really well.”
U.S. News’s rankings consider a variety of academic measures, including AP and IB performance, standardized testing and graduation rates. According to the publication, North Shore High has a 100 percent reading proficiency rate, a 98 percent mathematics proficiency rate and a 98 percent graduation rate.
The district’s strong performance in literacy and math, Smyth said, is the result of sustained collaboration between teachers and district administrators rather than any single program. “The directors and the teachers work really closely together to really provide student-centered instruction all the way through,” she added. “I think we’re very proud of our kids’ literacy and math skills.”
Tom Dolan, interim superintendent since July 19, credited the district’s students, teachers and staff. “I am standing behind the spotlight, shining it on the district and staying out of the spotlight,” he said,” because this is their accomplishment.”
Eric Contreras, the high school principal, said the rankings are meaningful because they validate work already taking place in the school. “Not everything that gets measured matters, and not everything that matters gets measured,” Contreras said, “and usually there’s a lot of stuff that’s qualitative in schools that don’t speak to all the things that make me so proud every day here. But when it happens to coincide, right, that it speaks to something you see in the building that is substantive, then gets in the metrics, then it’s a proud moment, because it makes public what you already know.”
North Shore has expanded its AP and IB offerings over the past five years, he added, with the number of students taking the exams increasing in some years by 20 percent.
The district has focused on creating courses that align with students’ interests, goals and potential college and career paths, Contreras said, including expanded offerings in science, technology, engineering and math.
That approach, he said, is not focused on improving rankings.
He also noted classroom practices that emphasize discussion, writing, experimentation and hands-on learning.
Students participate in Socratic dialogue, conduct experiments and learn through projects designed to make academic concepts tangible, he said.
“It’s a school where kids learn by doing and through engaged discourse,” Contreras said. “More so than I’ve seen in other schools.”
Board of Education President Andrea Macari said the rankings were a welcome opportunity to celebrate the district’s work, but added, “I don’t need a ranking to prove to me the value of a North Shore education.” Macari, a North Shore graduate herself, said, “But it is nice to be afforded the opportunity to take a well-deserved victory lap.”
She credited the district’s teachers and staff, as well as the community’s support for school budgets, with helping make the district’s academic opportunities possible. She also cautioned against placing too much emphasis on rankings.
“These methodologies do not capture the day-to-day magic that happens in our buildings, the indescribable feeling our teachers and students experience,” Macari said. “The beauty of what it is to be a child at North Shore — the methodology does not measure that.”
The district evaluates its success with multiple measures, Smyth said, including student engagement, athletics, music and performance-based assessments.
“We’re doing a lot of work around performance-based assessments, so looking beyond standardized tests, I think, is important to us as well,” she said.
The district’s focus, Contreras said, remains on maintaining the values that have guided its work. Macari echoed that sentiment, saying that North Shore continue working to improve even after receiving the recognition.
“It’s exciting, but we will not rest on our laurels …,” Macari said. “At North Shore, we are always trying to do better.”
