Signature School, a small public charter high school in downtown Evansville, has been named the No. 2 high school in the entire country and the top-ranked school in Indiana in U.S. News & World Report's newly released 2026-2027 national rankings. The school, which enrolls roughly 378 students in grades 9 through 12, edged out sprawling suburban Indianapolis powerhouses like Carmel and Zionsville to claim the state's top spot for a second straight year.
The rankings, released this week, evaluated more than 27,000 public high schools nationwide and numerically ranked nearly 18,000 of them, according to IndyStar. Signature School held the same No. 2 national ranking last year, meaning Evansville's charter school has now stayed near the very top of the list in consecutive editions. Only BASIS Tucson North in Arizona ranked higher, with Signature School fending off Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which took third, as reported by Northern Virginia Magazine.
How Indiana's Top Five Stack Up
Behind Signature School, West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School took second in Indiana and 170th nationally, up from 295th last year, per the same IndyStar report. Zionsville Community High School ranked third statewide and 230th nationally, an improvement from 269th in 2025. Herron High School, a classical liberal arts charter school in downtown Indianapolis, placed fourth in the state and 233rd nationally, also up from 307th last year. The Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities, a residential magnet program on the Ball State University campus in Muncie, rounded out the top five at 275th nationally, an increase from 190th the year before.
Other notable movers on the state list included Speedway Senior High School, which jumped to 280th nationally from 383rd last year, and Fishers High School, which climbed to 428th from 631st. Carmel High School came in at 316th nationally, an improvement from 357th last year, while Westfield High School landed at 434th, up from 514th. Munster High School ranked 448th nationally this year after sitting at 596th in 2025.
A Pioneer of Indiana Charter Education
Signature School opened in downtown Evansville in 2002 as Indiana's first public charter high school, though it originated in 1992 as a part-time secondary program before converting to a full-time charter under the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, according to Wikipedia. The school operates as its own Local Education Agency with an open-enrollment lottery admission process, offering 22 Advanced Placement and 22 International Baccalaureate courses, per Signature School's own school profile. Every student must also complete at least 100 hours of community service before graduating.
Indiana's charter school law dates back to April 2001, when it was signed by then-Governor Frank O'Bannon. The statute was notable nationally for allowing city mayors, public universities, and local school boards to authorize charter schools, according to the Indiana Charter Innovation Center. The state now hosts roughly 130 public charter schools serving about 56,000 students, representing around 5% of Indiana's K-12 public enrollment.
Why AP and IB Courses Carry So Much Weight
College readiness and college curriculum breadth, measured through student participation and performance on AP and IB exams, account for 40% of a school's overall score under the U.S. News methodology, according to WBOC. The remaining 60% of the evaluation factors in state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, how effectively schools serve underserved student populations, and graduation rates. Eligible schools needed at least 15 students enrolled in 12th grade to be considered.
That formula helps explain why small, specialized charter and magnet schools with heavy AP and IB course loads keep outperforming much larger, comprehensive public high schools in the national rankings. Public charter schools claimed 23% of the top 100 public high school spots nationwide this year, according to the same WBOC report, despite representing a far smaller share of the nation's roughly 27,000 public secondary schools. Nationally, Massachusetts led all states with 47% of its public high schools ranking in the top 25%, followed by New Jersey at 44% and Maryland at 43%, per WBOC's analysis of data compiled with research firm RTI International.
Debate Over What the Rankings Actually Measure
Not everyone agrees the formula is fair to every kind of school. Critics have argued nationally that ranking criteria rewarding high AP and IB test-taking volume alongside 100% graduation rates may favor schools with selective entry, smaller student cohorts, or higher-socioeconomic populations over large, comprehensive urban and suburban public high schools. Hoodline previously covered Signature School's rise when it held the No. 2 national spot alongside Chicago's Walter Payton College Prep in the 2024 rankings, showing the Evansville school's staying power at the top of the list across multiple ranking cycles.
Elsewhere on Indiana's list, Brownsburg High School ranked 11th, Hamilton Southeastern High School came in 12th, and Burris Laboratory School placed 13th. Noblesville High School ranked 15th, Bloomington High School South took 16th, and Tri-West Senior High School landed at 17th. Avon High School ranked 18th, Valparaiso High School placed 19th, and The Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship rounded out the 20th spot, according to IndyStar's full rankings breakdown.
