Niche 2026: Woodlands Academy gets another ‘A+’
For the seventh year in a row, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart gets the top grade for its faith-based education of young women. In other recently released 2026 rankings by Niche, an independent research company, the Lake Forest school is positioned as the best Catholic high school and the best all-girls high school on the North Shore. Woodlands Academy is also ranked the No. 2 Best All-girls High School in Illinois, along with its overall grade of “A+” received in this year’s report.
Niche, a website for researching K-12 schools, scored Woodlands Academy highly on various factors. These include SAT/ACT scores, student-teacher ratios, the quality of colleges students consider, and reviews from students, alumni and parents. Statistical data used by Niche to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities comes from a variety of sources. Because of this, Niche says its rankings differ from others that rely heavily on test scores and academic performance.
“We are so pleased to receive a seventh-consecutive overall grade of ‘A+’ from Niche and to be positioned as the best Catholic and the best all-girls high school on the North Shore,” said Head of School Susan Tyree Dempf, Ph.D. “Woodlands provides young women with an excellent education which prepares them for university study and beyond. Our students are educated in an environment focused on how girls learn. This, in combination with leadership opportunities, athletics, and access to exceptional faculty, helps our students to reach their fullest potential.”
Dempf believes the benefits of an all-girls school do not come simply from separating girls from boys, but rather from the ability of a girls’ school to create a culture of achievement among girls through an educational environment where girls feel confident to express themselves, take educational risks and engage in an open, safe exchange of ideas.
Woodlands Academy has also been recognized as a 2020 and 2025 National Blue Ribbon School. Its focus on educating young women to become well-rounded global citizens traces back to the original vision of Sacred Heart education formulated more than 200 years ago by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat in post-Revolutionary France. Woodlands is a Catholic, independent, day-and-boarding, college-preparatory school for young women of all faiths in grades nine through 12. Founded in Chicago in 1858 and located in Lake Forest since 1904, Woodlands is part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart Schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries on six continents. To learn more, visit woodlandsacademy.org.