Is LHS Really a Public School?

The town of Lexington, MA offers picturesque fall foliage and idyllic redbrick pathways, interspersed with richly historical colonial buildings. Aside from its fame as the losing party in the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord, our beautiful town is well-known by another aspect: its schools. In fact, Lexington boasts a ranking of #2 in Best Public High Schools in Massachusetts from Niche. 

The town prides itself on its academics: dubbed a “Harvard feeder school” by The Crimson, Lexington is known for sending its students to Ivy Leagues. In fact, one out of every 20 Harvard freshmen in the class of 2017 attended one of seven high schools—the only public school on the list being, of course, Lexington High School.

To achieve such academic success by any school is applaudable—but to a public school it is astonishing. Why is Lexington just so good at everything? Why is it ranked first in a list of 345 of the places with the best public schools in Massachusetts? Is it an exacting teacher selection process, perhaps? The way its curriculum is developed? The secret may lie closer to the surface, and it is one simple fact—Lexington is not really a public school. 

Of course, by all definitions, it technically is—anyone can join the school, provided they are willing to make the 15-20 minute commute. But LHS’s selectiveness lies not in an entrance exam, but in its population. Almost all of Lexington’s families share one characteristic: money. While the median household income in the United States was $67,521 in 2020, Lexington’s sits at more than triple that—its average is $231,819. Its median rent is almost double, and the median listing home price on realtor.com is a staggering $1.4 million, 5 times more than the national median.

A study from the Stanford Educational Opportunity Project ranks Lexington students as 3.8  grades ahead of the average student—the single highest value compared to all other school districts in the US. Curiously, though, the study also compares this educational attainment to parents’ socioeconomic status, and Lexington (along with its fellow high-ranked school districts) remains in the highest quadrant for ‘richest’ parents. The numbers are striking—the graph is one big positive trend: as the students’ grade levels above average goes up, so too does socioeconomic status. Thus, the tie between money and education is indisputable.

With such outstanding figures, it is no surprise that Lexington’s schools are the top in the state. After all, the schools are funded by the people, and with Lexington’s citizens making thrice more than the average American, it is expected that the schools’ competency will match. No doubt the parents of Lexington, roughly 57% of which hold a Master’s degree or higher (as opposed to the national 12%), expect a rigorous learning environment for their children, much of which they fund from their own tax dollars. 

So, the answer to the critical question of Lexington High School’s Status as a public school: it isn’t really. Its official classification is as a public school, but its nature suggests otherwise. After all, students don’t need to pass any exams to enroll—just be able to afford million-dollar homes.

by JANET LIU