Students work on projects in the library at Bennett Elementary in McKinney ISD. The district received an A+ rating on the 2019 Niche Best School Districts list and ranked in the top 3 percent in Texas and the nation.

McKinney, Texas – McKinney ISD rates among the best school districts in Texas and the nation according to recent rankings released by Niche, an online research service that compiles and evaluates a broad range of data on schools and communities to serve as a guide for families.

Each year, Niche releases rankings of top K-12 schools, colleges, places to live and places to work as well as top school districts.

For the 2019 Niche Best School Districts list, MISD received an overall rating of A+ and ranked in the top 3 percent of the 995 Texas school districts assessed by the company. Those results place MISD among other high-performing districts such as Carroll, Highland Park, Coppell, Allen, Lovejoy, Frisco, Plano and Prosper.

On a national level, MISD ranked in the top 3 percent of the 10,758 school districts that were evaluated by Niche.

“This rating focuses on a broad range of factors, and that’s significant,” said Cody Cunningham, MISD chief communications and support services officer. “It takes into account state assessments, but also includes SAT and ACT results, the quality of academic and extra-curricular programs, student and parent feedback, facilities and other areas that impact a student’s learning environment. There are always areas in which we can improve, but these high rankings reflect the exceptional work of our teachers and students taking place across the district every day.”

The Niche 2019 Best School Districts ranking was compiled through “rigorous analysis of academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with test scores, college data and ratings collected from millions of Niche users,” according to their website. This year Niche added nearly 6,000 schools to its evaluation process.

“Our aim is to provide families with the most important information to help guide their school search,” said Luke Skurman, Niche’s CEO. “Adding significantly more metro areas to our search tool and even more schools to our rankings is just another way that we’re building out our nationwide coverage.”

Scores for each district were based upon data collected in eight categories. The grade for academics—based on state testing performance, SAT/ACT scores and survey responses from students and parents—carried the most weight in the evaluation, counting toward 50 percent of each district’s grade.

The grade for teachers counted 15 percent; grades for culture and diversity and overall experience for parents and students each counted for 10 percent. The total score was rounded out by marks for health and safety and resources and facilities, which each counted 5 percent, and clubs/activities and sports, which each contributed 2.5 percent.

Twenty-three of the 28 MISD campuses assessed by Niche, including the district’s three high schools, received grades of A+, A or A-. Of the remaining five schools, one received a score of B+, two received a B and two received a score of B-.

In light of the recent school accountability scores released by TEA, which focus on a fairly narrow range of information, the ratings from Niche provide a broader overview of how MISD is doing in its mission to serve its students and the community.

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