When U.S. News & World Report released its 2026 Best High Schools rankings, one notable Alabama school was missing: Loveless Academic Magnet Program, or LAMP, the academic magnet high school that has long been one of Montgomery County’s highest-performing public schools.
Alabama Daily News asked U.S. News why LAMP wasn’t ranked. A U.S. News spokesperson responded: “The Loveless Academic Magnet Program is unranked this year because U.S. News did not receive ACT state assessment data for the school from the Alabama Department of Education.”
ADN then asked the Alabama State Department of Education whether it had failed to submit assessment data for the 2023-24 school year to U.S. News. ALSDE officials told ADN the department does not actually send data to U.S. News or its research partner, RTI International.
After ALSDE contacted U.S. News to ask how it obtains assessment data, the organization told state officials that it obtained LAMP’s data from Alabama’s public federal report card site.
That explanation conflicts with what U.S. News previously told ADN.
ALSDE officials are still seeking answers.
Montgomery Public Schools is also asking questions. District officials posted a letter on social media Friday afternoon acknowledging the community’s concerns and saying they want to make sure they have a full set of facts before saying more.
“MPS does not want to speculate about the specific cause while the matter is being reviewed. The district’s priority is to ensure the public receives accurate information while allowing the appropriate agencies an opportunity to determine what occurred,” the post states.
LAMP’s absence also produced a change at the top of Alabama’s rankings.
Huntsville City Schools’ New Century Technology High School was named the No. 1 high school in Alabama – a distinction the school celebrated on social media.
Whether that ranking would have looked different had LAMP been included remains an open question.