Massachusetts has two of the best Catholic high schools in the country, according to Niche

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Massachusetts has two of the top 25 Catholic high schools in the U.S., according to Niche.

The website ranked 1,139 Catholic high schools across the country.

Newton Country Day School, an all girls school in Newton, was listed as number 18. St. Sebastian’s School, an all boys school in Needham, was listed as number 20.

Niche said its rankings “provide a more personal view of a school” by combining rankings from current students, alumni and parents with data from the U.S. Department of Education “to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities, extracurricular activity opportunities, and more.”

“Through the international Network of Sacred Heart Schools, students take advantage of service trips and curricular exchanges across five continents,” the school wrote. “Rigorous academics, performing and visual arts, and interscholastic sports build a vibrant school community, while social justice and service enrich each student’s experience. Girls are accepted to the most competitive colleges and universities with the goal of living meaningful and joyous lives.”

Its yearly tuition is $56,150, according to Niche.

St. Sebastian’s School, which ranked second on Niche’s best Catholic high schools in Massachusetts list, received an A+ rating for everything but diversity, which it received a B+ for.

“Committed to the pursuit of truth through faith and reason, St. Sebastian’s is a Catholic independent day school for 375 young men in grades seven through twelve,” the school wrote. “With an average class size of 11 and a student/faculty ratio of 7:1, St. Sebastian’s offers a program of academic rigor and spiritual depth with excellence in the arts and athletics.”

Its yearly tuition is $54,110, according to Niche.

Beyond Catholic high schools, Massachusetts also has the best private high school in the country, according to Niche.

Niche listed Phillips Academy in Andover as its best private high school for its 2022 list.

“Since Niche first started ranking schools, Phillips Academy has been number 1 every year except 2015 and 2020,” the company said.

Across the commonwealth, just under 10,000 new students enrolled in private and parochial schools between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, according to state data.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston saw one of the biggest increases.

By the start of the 2020-2021 school year, more than 4,000 new students had enrolled in its schools, turning “around the fortunes of Catholic schools in a dramatic way,” said Thomas Carroll, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Boston.

This year, nearly 1,400 new students enrolled in the Archdiocese of Boston’s school for the 2021-2022 school year, according to data provided by the archdiocese.

“We have a greater sense of optimism than we’ve had in a long time,” said Carroll. “We’ve gone from long term despair about the fate of Catholic education to optimism that people understand the value that we provide to kids and families.”

The Diocese of Springfield has also seen an increase in students both last year and this year.

“Our whole system is up 13% over the start of the year last year,” said Diocese of Springfield Superintendent Daniel Baillargeon. “Every school has seen at least some growth compared to the same time last year as well.”

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