A Boca Raton public school system just earned a title no Florida school has claimed before: the No. 1 public K-12 school in the entire country. A.D. Henderson University School and Florida Atlantic University High School, together known as FAU Lab Schools, took the top national and state spot in Niche's Best Public K-12 Schools category for 2027, beating out nearly 1,900 other schools.
A First-Time National Title
According to WPEC, FAU Lab Schools were evaluated among 1,903 schools in Niche's Best Public K-12 Schools category and came out on top for the first time, a milestone FAU says the schools had never reached before. The ranking covers both A.D. Henderson, which serves grades K-8, and FAU High School, and reflects a broader climb across multiple Niche categories this year.
FAU High School itself climbed to No. 15 nationally in Niche's Best Public High Schools category, up from No. 23 the previous year, per the station's report. In the Best College-Prep Public High Schools category, FAU High jumped 12 places to land at No. 5 nationwide. Within Florida, FAU High now sits at No. 2 for both best public high school and best college-prep public high school, an improvement from No. 3 in both categories the year before.
Teachers and Leadership Weigh In
FAU says its Lab Schools teachers were also ranked No. 1 in Florida at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. A.D. Henderson University School received an overall A-plus grade from Niche, with A-plus marks specifically in administration, academics, teachers, college preparation, and diversity, the same report notes.
Adam Hasner, according to the same account, said the No. 1 national ranking reflects the extraordinary work of the educators and their students. Niche bases its rankings on U.S. Department of Education data combined with millions of student and parent reviews, a methodology the outlet also laid out in its coverage.
A Structure Decades in the Making
The lab school model behind these rankings dates back to 1968, when A.D. Henderson University School was founded through a $1.3 million endowment from Lucy Henderson in memory of her husband, Alexander D. Henderson. In 1991, the Florida Legislature designated developmental research lab schools as independent public school districts under the State University System, according to Florida Atlantic University.
Unlike traditional neighborhood or magnet schools, entry into A.D. Henderson's K-8 program is governed by a randomized state lottery under Section 1002.32 of the Florida Statutes, designed to match Florida's overall demographic profile across gender, race, socioeconomic status, and academic capability. FAU High School, established in 2004, builds on that foundation with an early-college model: ninth-graders complete traditional coursework before transitioning to full-time university classes on FAU's Boca Raton campus in 10th grade, earning dual-enrollment college credit toward a bachelor's degree tuition-free. Families do still cover minor costs, including a $650 annual activity fee and university transportation access fees, even though tuition, lab fees, and textbooks are waived for dual-enrollment students.
Federal Honors and New Investment
The national attention isn't new. In September 2024, A.D. Henderson and FAU High received their third National Blue Ribbon School designation from the U.S. Department of Education, placing them among 15 recognized public and private schools in Florida that year. On Florida's 2025 statewide assessments, FAU Lab Schools ranked as the No. 1 overall public school district in the state, with top scores in writing, reading, mathematics, science, and civics.
In November 2025, FAU opened a newly constructed, state-of-the-art campus facility for A.D. Henderson and FAU High School on its main Boca Raton campus. FAU High also runs a specialized research track in Jupiter in partnership with the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, where 11th- and 12th-grade honors students conduct full-time research alongside professional scientists. Looking ahead, Florida Atlantic University has requested $2 million in state funding through the State University System of Florida's 2026-2027 Legislative Budget Request to support the FAU Lab Schools Institute.
The rankings also mark a shift from where the schools stood just a year earlier. In Niche's 2026 Florida public high school rankings, A.D. Henderson and FAU High placed No. 3 statewide, trailing Pine View School in Osprey and Rising Leaders Academy in Panama City. This year's results push the Boca Raton schools past both, cementing a years-long climb built on the lab school system's unusual mix of lottery-based admissions and university immersion.
