New Canaan High School
New Canaan · CT · New Canaan School District · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Darien High School → Wilton High School → Norwalk High School → Brien McMahon High School → Fairfield Ludlowe High School → Staples High School → Fairfield Warde High School → Stamford High School →A parent's read
- 97% graduate on time. Nearly every student who starts 9th grade here finishes in four years — the strongest baseline signal a school can post.
- Course rigor in the top 14% of US high schools. 26 AP courses plus advanced math and lab-science depth — measured against every high school in the country, not just the neighborhood.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
At a glance
- 26 AP courses offered — Elite
- Gifted & talented program
- 5 calculus classes · 15 physics · 19 chemistry
- AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: 94th percentile by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 97% in 2019 (90th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
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How New Canaan High School compares for families
Standout academic depth by national standards.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor in the top 14% nationally with 26 AP courses.
- ▸ LocallyCT students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+7 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Darien High School, Wilton High School, Norwalk High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
86th percentile nationally
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-2194th percentile by test-taker volume
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
90th percentile nationally
Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.
Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
Federal Title I context
Lower-need school
Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)
<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
Your state's public flagship
University of Connecticut
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $25,097/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -1.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,257 students:
≈ 61 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue at risk
At $29,037 per student in district revenue, the 61 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $1,771,257/year in funding at risk.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darien High School Darien |
Public | 3.0 | 1,382 | -2.8% |
| Wilton High School Wilton |
Public | 6.4 | 1,202 | -1.4% |
| Norwalk High School Norwalk |
Public | 5.2 | 1,494 | -0.9% |
| Brien McMahon High School Norwalk |
Public | 4.2 | 1,739 | +4.4% |
| Fairfield Ludlowe High School Fairfield |
Public | 11.9 | 1,367 | -10.4% |
| Staples High School Westport |
Public | 8.6 | 1,629 | -5.0% |
| Fairfield Warde High School Fairfield |
Public | 13.9 | 1,308 | -6.2% |
| Stamford High School Stamford |
Public | 5.1 | 2,102 | +6.6% |
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantNew Canaan High School is a public high school in New Canaan, CT, enrolling 1,257 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Enrollment is up 13% from 2021 to 2024.
It offers 26 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 86% of U.S. high schools (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
565 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 94% of U.S. high schools.
Its federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.
It has about 157 students per school counselor.
1% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
How many AP courses does New Canaan High School offer? New Canaan High School offers 26 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 86% of U.S. high schools (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
What is New Canaan High School's graduation rate? New Canaan High School's federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.
How many students attend New Canaan High School? New Canaan High School is a public high school in New Canaan, CT, enrolling 1,257 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
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Related reading
AP courses · October 2026
Test scores · October 2026