Corner Canyon High School jumped two spots to No. 5 in Utah on the 2026-27 U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday, Aug. 18, giving Canyons School District its lone entry in the statewide top 10.

The Draper school rose from No. 7 last year. Above it: Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy (charter, Lindon) at No. 1, Skyline High (Granite School District, Millcreek) at No. 2, Park City High at No. 3 and American Preparatory Academy (charter, Draper) at No. 4. Corner Canyon is one of three traditional public schools in the top five.

Meanwhile, Beehive Science and Technology Academy in Sandy, which held Utah's No. 1 ranking for five consecutive years, dropped to No. 11. The Salt Lake Tribune reported the charter school just missed the top 10.

That's a notable shift for Sandy families who have long pointed to Beehive's dominance as a local bragging right.

As we reported Aug. 6, all five Canyons district high schools placed in the Salt Lake Valley's top 20 in the prior ranking cycle, with Brighton at 19th statewide, Alta at 24th, Hillcrest at 29th and Jordan at 58th. Updated statewide positions for those four schools have not been confirmed in the new rankings.

What drives the rankings

College readiness carries the most weight at 30% of a school's overall score, according to the U.S. News press release. That factor measures the share of seniors who took at least one AP or IB exam and the share who earned a qualifying score.

Corner Canyon leads Canyons School District in AP participation. In the prior cycle, 61% of its seniors took at least one AP exam, compared with 51% at Alta and 36% at Jordan. The rankings use 2023-24 school year data, meaning the scores reflect performance from two years ago.

Other factors include state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), college curriculum breadth (10%), graduation rate (10%) and underserved student performance (10%).

What it means for families

The rankings evaluate roughly 27,000 eligible public high schools nationwide, with nearly 18,000 receiving a rank.

Tom Sherwood, Canyons School District's director of high schools, said in a December 2025 Hillcrest High School announcement: "Our goal is ensuring every student is ready for what comes next."

Hillcrest draws more out-of-district students than any other Canyons school, with 268 enrolling from outside district boundaries in the most recently reported year. Across the district, 83% of local high school students choose Canyons schools, and 770 students enrolled from outside district lines in the prior cycle.

Families who want to attend a school outside their neighborhood boundary can apply through the district's School Choice Permit Portal. The open enrollment window runs from Nov. 15 through the first Friday in February.