Staff photo.
Homewood High School.
There are some numbers that make you stop and smile, and the release of the U.S. News & World Report rankings of the best high schools in Alabama has given Homewood High School a reason to celebrate.
The Patriots have been named the number two public high school in Alabama and number 212 in the nation in the 2026-27 U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools rankings, placing Homewood among approximately the top 1.2% of public high schools ranked nationwide.
That is no small accomplishment.
And for a school with a long tradition of academic, artistic, athletic and extracurricular excellence, it is another well-deserved moment to celebrate.
But there is something even more telling about Homewood High’s latest recognition.
Photo courtesy of Homewood High School.
Homewood High School Principal Joel Henneke.
Ask Principal Joel Henneke about the ranking, and he doesn’t talk for long about numbers.
He talks about kids.
At Homewood High’s Open House on Aug. 25, Henneke discussed different stakeholders asking him about the recognition. His answer was perhaps the best reflection of what makes his leadership so distinctive.
“Whenever someone says congratulations on these or similar rankings, I just say ‘thank you.’ But what is so much more important to me is each individual child and them reaching their own unique potential because that is the real measure of success.”
In a moment when it would be easy to celebrate a ranking — and Homewood and Henneke certainly should — Henneke, a Marine Corps veteran and true servant leader, brings the conversation back to the reason the school exists in the first place: to serve students.
It is a simple philosophy, but one that is deeply personal to Henneke.
No two students arrive at Homewood High with exactly the same gifts, interests, challenges or dreams. One may be preparing for a highly selective university. Another may discover a calling through music, theater, athletics, career technology or service. Another may need a teacher, coach, counselor or principal to see something in them before they are able to see it themselves.
Success looks different for each of them.
And Henneke understands that.
That student-first perspective is especially meaningful when the numbers are this impressive.
U.S. News evaluates public high schools using multiple measures, including college readiness, AP and IB participation and performance, state assessment results, graduation rates, and student performance across demographic groups.
Homewood performs exceptionally well in all measures.
Seventy-one percent of Homewood High students participate in AP courses, and 63% have passed at least one AP exam. Sixty-eight percent of students are proficient in science, 67% in math and 62% in reading.
The school also climbed from number 363 nationally in the 2025 U.S. News rankings to number 212 this year.
Only New Century Technology High School in Huntsville ranked higher among Alabama public schools. But New Century is a specialized magnet school, while Homewood is a comprehensive public high school serving a broad student population.
Still, the measure Henneke chooses to focus on will always center on each individual child under his care, and that is a fitting one for a principal whose leadership is so clearly rooted in service and in a genuine desire to know and encourage every Homewood High School student.
The ranking is worth celebrating because of the hard work of the students, teachers, counselors, coaches, families and stakeholders who helped make this possible.
But those numbers are meaningful because behind every statistic is a student, and behind every student, is a story still being written.
And for Henneke, success will always be measured in the lives of students touched and providing the support they needed to reach their potential, not as a group number or ranking, but always as a unique individual.
