Buchholz High School was ranked No. 54 best high school in Florida and No. 1 in Alachua County Public Schools by US News & World Report for the 2023-2024 school year.
The school was also ranked No. 822 out of 17,680 public high schools in the country, putting it in the top 5%.
Rigorous courses and high academic expectations from teachers are at the core of Buchholz’s ranking, principal Kevin Purvis said.
“It's super exciting for us,” he said. “It's just a testament to our teachers, our staff, our students, our families, that they value academic achievement in what we offer here at Buchholz.”
US News ranks schools based on performance on standardized tests, graduation rate and college preparedness.
The school boasts a 97% graduation rate — a number partially thanks to individual coaching and meetings guidance counselors hold with students, counselor Suzanne Warner said.
“Nobody that is a senior here doesn't know exactly what they individually need to do to graduate,” she said. “And that takes a lot.”
Buchholz has also been recognized for its academics in the past: its math team is the current national champion of the Mu Alpha Theta competition, and several students were finalists for the Physics Olympics team.
While the Buchholz community is celebrating its current success, it’s also striving to do better each coming year, Warner said.
“We're going to work hard regardless of whether US News notices us or not, but it is nice that they did notice,” she said.
Contact Alissa at agary@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @AlissaGary1.
Alissa is the Fall 2025 editor-in-chief of The Alligator. She has previously been engagement managing editor and university editor, and she has covered stories across UF and Gainesville. She was also an intern at the Orlando Sentinel and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her cat and take care of her plants.
