By Gus Saltonstall
A total of four Upper West Side private high schools made a recent ranking of the 100 best in New York City.
On Monday, Niche released its annual rankings of the best schools in the United States, where it analyzed 93,000 public schools and 30,000 private schools across the country.
Four Upper West Side schools landed spots in Niche’s ranking of New York City’s 100 best private schools for 2027.
The top-ranked New York City private high school in the neighborhood? The Collegiate School.
- #14: The Collegiate School at 301 Freedom Place South (between West 61st and 62nd streets)
- #20: Trinity School at 139 West 91st Street (between Amsterdam and Columbus)
- #31: Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School at 5 West 93rd Street (between Columbus and Central Park West)
- #72: The Calhoun School at 433 West End Avenue (between West 80th and 81st streets)
Niche’s rankings combine federal and state data, school statistics, and over 3 million reviews from students, parents, and teachers, to evaluate schools. You can read more about Niche’s methodology in the seven-step breakdown of its process — HERE.
It is the first time since at least 2018 that no Upper West Side private school earned a spot in Niche’s top 10 for New York City.
West Side Rag did note some discrepancies in Niche’s filtering system, as schools outside of the five boroughs were grouped into New York City.
For example, Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York, continued to appear as the fifth-best private high school in New York City. The Rag changed the rankings accordingly to not include schools outside of the city.
Most eye-catching is Trinity’s ranking as the 20th best private high school in New York City.
Niche named Trinity as the best private school in New York City for three years in a row from 2019 to 2022, and among the 25 best in the United States from 2019 through 2023.
Here are the grades Niche gave Trinity for the 2027 school year:
- Academics: A+
- Teachers: A
- Clubs & Activities: B
- Diversity: A
- College Prep: A+
- Sports: C+
Here are the yearly tuition costs at the four top Upper West Side private high schools when paid at full price, according to their websites. All four of the schools provide financial aid at various levels for students.
- Collegiate School: $72,070
- Trinity School: $71,500
- Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School: $69,560
- The Calhoun School: $69,500
Here are the top 10 private high schools in New York City for 2027, according to Niche.
- The Chapin School
- Horace Mann School
- BASIS Independent Manhattan
- Riverdale Country School
- BASIS Independent Brooklyn
- The Spence School
- Regis High School
- Avenue The World School
- Nightingdale-Bamford School
- Dalton
You can check out the full rankings from Niche — HERE.
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Many of these are not “in” New York City.
Brooklyn and the Bronx (Riverdale) are part of nyc
And to think, you can do pretty well in life having gone to free public high schools!
Right… MLK school and Trinity are petty much the same.
No but Bronx Science or Stuyvesant and Horace Mann aren’t
Bronx Science and Stuy are specialized schools. It is not a regular public school. You need to pass a tough exam to get there
Um, democratic socialism?
It’s not “free”.
Why basis independent manhattan not considered a private school in uws? It’s ranked top 3.
The upper school is on W 22nd St – this is a list of top high schools.
Surprised no the Day School or Dwight are excluded
Is Dwight actually good? Honestly, everyone I knew who went there were not all that smart, ad opposed to Horace Mann, Riverdale, Spence, Chapon
hunter is not on the uws- on ues though many westsiders attend
Hunter Science is in the MLK school on Amsterdam so it is UWS.
Or, read another way, the headline could be: “No UWS private school placed in the top 10 of NYC’s top schools.”
How many top public high schools are actually on the UWS? Or, for that matter, even decent ones?
WESS, Hunter Science and Columbia Secondary. McCourt is OK. UWS kids often have to schlep pretty far for good high schools, both public and private. We are fortunate to have quite a few excellent public elementary schools, and a few good public middle schools.
This private school list is useless. It is as bad as US News and World Reports for colleges. No one with a brain is making a decision based on this.
“Good” Hunter HS is on UES. There’s Hunter affiliated school on UWS but it isn’t good at all. Columbia Secondary is in Harlem.
Hunter on the UWS is a very good school. It is not as selective as HCHS on the east side but it is one of the better public high schools in NYC. Clearly you know nothing about public high schools.
I debated including Columbia but it is close enough. I knew a nitpicking know-it-all like you would come in to try to show how smart they are and question it. Thanks for proving me right. Move on with making the world a better place.
No, UWS Hunter is not a good school. UES one is totally different. It is excellent and very hard to get into, unlike UWS Hunter.
I think I know a thing or two about NYC public schools, having lived on the UWS for over 30 years and sent two kids through public elementary, middle, and high schools. Disagree with me all you want, but the condescension is unnecessary.
Beacon is really good though I know is now in midtown. But yeah, Braindeis and MLK are now spot up into mini high schools
Geneva School is also UWS
Shout-out to Trevor — its high school is on the UES, but its lower school is UWS.
How about a simple wish of “congratulations and all the best” to the dedication and hard work of the faculty, the administration, the diligence of the students and the focus of the parents/families who all contributed to make these schools stand out? Naysayers that they aren’t in NYC, (when they all are), political statements that have no bearing, and other misguided comments are all so disappointing in something that would seem like such an obvious piece of good news and something to be proud of, Upper West Siders????
Not one comment on the tuition? The public schools are left to the poor and marginalized. How many UWS-ers attend these schools? This entire subject makes me ill.
The article lists the cost of tuition at each school. People know it is expensive.
Me too.
I still don’t understand why the schools’ LOCATION has anything to do with excellence. The students who attend can be from anywhere, so why are we excited about where the buildings are?
It’d be great to know that good options exist up here without having to schlep to another borough or across town every morning
Sorry, but private schools are not chosen by their location.
Right, as if they were zoned school available to UWS kids.