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US News ranks Walnut Hills 65th and Newsweek ranks Walnut Hills 66th among U.S. high schools

Out of more than 18,000 public high schools in the USA, US News ranks Walnut number 65 in the USA and awards WHHS Gold Medal status.

Click here to view the entire US News report

Each year, Newsweek picks the best high schools in the country based on how hard school staffs work to challenge students with advanced-placement college-level courses and tests. Just over 1.600 schools—only 6 percent of all the public schools in the U.S.—made the list.

Newsweek has ranked Walnut 66th in the nation and #1 in Ohio.

Click here to view the Newsweek report

Walnut Hills history

Walnut Hills High School, a college preparatory school for grades 7-12, is nationally recognized as one of America's top public high schools. The 1,900 member student body is culturally and ethnically diverse, with students attending from every urban neighborhood in Cincinnati. Twenty percent of the graduates enter college with advanced standing, and students score especially well on the Ohio Tests of Scholastic Achievement. All students pass all parts of the Ohio Proficiency Test, 90% on the first sitting. Upon graduation, Walnut Hills High School students are accepted by the finest universities and colleges throughout America.

Walnut Hills offers a rigorous classical program, requiring three years of Latin for incoming 7th and 8th graders. There is an Advanced Placement Program offering courses in twenty-one subjects, more than any other school throughout the Midwest. The school has an outstanding cultural arts program which includes five dramatic/musical productions each year, AP studio art, and an award-winning marching band. There are thirty-seven competitive sports teams and sixty-three extra-curricular activities. The school participates in science and foreign language competitions, the National Mathematics Examination, the Harvard Model United Nations, and U.S. First.

In 1895 Walnut Hills High School opened its doors at Ashland and Burdett Avenues as a neighborhood school. In 1918 the school took a new direction toward preparing students for college admission in the liberal arts. Randall Condon, Superintendent of Schools, and George Davis, Walnut Hills Principal, were committed to making Walnut comparable, in every respect, to the best college preparatory schools in the nation. The program became so popular that the old building became inadequate, and on September 8, 1931, the present larger building on Victory Parkway was officially dedicated. The inspiration for the design was the Library Building of the University of Virginia and Monticello, both the work of Thomas Jefferson. It was quite appropriate that, given the purpose of Walnut Hills High School, the architecture should have reflected the classical ethos.

In 1935 the Board of Education confirmed the status of the school as "an institution specialized for college preparation." Again in 1972, the Board of Education reaffirmed the position of Walnut Hills High School as a six-year, college preparatory school. As early as 1926 a systematic method of pupil selection was adopted. Today all students enter the school after passing a special college preparatory examination.

In 1999 the Arts and Science Center was opened. This facility has state-of-the-art science laboratories, spacious art studios, classrooms and an expanded level of technology. There is an outdoor learning area with five bio-beds and aquatic pool. On the north side of the Center is a sculpture garden. This twelve million dollar project was financed by our very supportive Alumni Foundation.

Walnut Hills brings together capable students and faculty, dedicated to intellectual achievement, to the principles of mutual and collective respect, and to the development of good citizenship. The explosion of technology has given a new urgency to the term "lifelong learner." Students use the technology to access, organize, and use the enormous amount of new information available. Thomas Jefferson would truly be pleased to note that the school library, fashioned in his architectural style, is truly a center for academic pursuits. The mission of the Walnut Hills library is that students and faculty are effective users of information; to support this, the library has a fully automated circulation and catalog system with terminals networked to the Internet for student use. Students access databases of full-text newspapers and magazines through Newsbank, Proquest, and SIRS. At Walnut students become self-sufficient in finding and using information.

In a society where we anticipate that today's students will change careers six or seven times throughout their lifetime, Walnut Hills must become an exemplary college preparatory school that is future-oriented and responsive to change. Technology must be used as a tool for learning in all areas of the school.

Now, at the turn of the century, Walnut Hills High School continues to prepare young men and women to be our business, community, and government leaders for Cincinnati, our state, and our nation. The school motto is SURSUM AD SUMMUM or "Rise to the Highest." The Walnut Hills High School faculty, bolstered by the support of 16,000 Alumni, is dedicated to producing the best college candidates.