Summit Public School District landed among New Jersey's top 10 school districts in Niche's 2027 Best School Districts in America ranking, earning an overall grade of A- or better.

The district placed sixth statewide among districts that earned the top-tier grade, according to Patch, which published the district-level results on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Niche released the 2027 rankings on Monday, Sept. 28, covering more than 93,000 public schools, 30,000 private schools and 11,000 school districts nationwide.

The district-level ranking is a distinct metric from Niche's individual school rankings.

As we reported Monday, Sept. 28, Summit Senior High School separately ranked No. 22 among New Jersey public high schools. The district ranking evaluates the full Summit Public School District across all grade levels, covering nine schools and 4,013 students.

On Niche's profile for Summit Public School District, the district earned A+ marks in academics, teachers and college prep. It also received an A in administration, an A in sports, an A- in clubs and activities, an A- in food, a B in diversity and a B- in resources and facilities.

Northern Valley Regional High School District topped the statewide list with an A+ overall grade. West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, Tenafly Public School District, Mountain Lakes School District and Ridgewood Public School District rounded out the five districts ranked ahead of Summit. Princeton Public Schools, Haddonfield Public Schools, The School District of the Chathams and Moorestown Township Public School District followed Summit on the list.

Niche, the Pittsburgh-based education ranking service, draws on federal and state data, school-reported statistics and more than three million reviews from students, parents and teachers.

One notable methodology change this year: Niche removed SAT and ACT scores from its formula to reflect a reduced emphasis on standardized testing in college admissions, as TAPinto reported. The service also created separate public and private rankings for categories including arts, diversity, college prep and teachers.

Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche, said in a news release that the updates were meant to give families more useful comparisons. "This year's rankings give families more ways to find the right fit, with updates designed to help surface schools where their children will thrive," Skurman said.

In the separate individual school rankings, New Providence High School placed No. 53 and Governor Livingston High School placed No. 71 among New Jersey public high schools. The full district rankings are available on Niche's website.