Best High Schools in California

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Find the best California high schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2323)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
061182001307	141	Piedmont Hills High	Public	9-12	1377 Piedmont Rd.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	East Side Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-3800	1,945	86	22.5	23.9%	87 (4.5%)	24 (1.2%)	531 (27.3%)	1,193 (61.3%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (0.6%)	96 (4.9%)	$7,990							91.1	93.4	118	23
060744002328	142	Aliso Niguel High	Public	9-12	28000 Wolverine Way	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 831-5590	2,608	117	22.2	30.4%	1,306 (50.1%)	29 (1.1%)	575 (22.0%)	430 (16.5%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.2%)	252 (9.7%)	$9,737							91	93.9	105	37
060176311756	143	Classical Academy High	Public, Charter	9-12	207 East Pennsylvania Ave.	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Classical Academy High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 480-9845	1,298	59	21.9	22.9%	737 (56.8%)	13 (1.0%)	303 (23.3%)	54 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	180 (13.9%)								91	82.8	278	135
060297000223	144	Arcadia High	Public	9-12	180 Campus Dr.	Arcadia	91007	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-1711	3,004	108	27.8	31.2%	310 (10.3%)	58 (1.9%)	528 (17.6%)	2,015 (67.1%)	8 (0.3%)	3 (0.1%)	79 (2.6%)	$11,848							91	93.7	109	35
061668011295	145	Hawthorne Math and Science Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	4467 West Broadway	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 973-8184	548	25	22	73.2%	29 (5.3%)	89 (16.2%)	359 (65.5%)	57 (10.4%)	3 (0.5%)	5 (0.9%)	6 (1.1%)	$11,557							90.8	89.3	189	44
060244306493	146	Escondido Charter High	Public, Charter	9-12	1868 East Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Escondido Charter High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 737-3154	936	54	17.4	48.6%	335 (35.8%)	20 (2.1%)	443 (47.3%)	87 (9.3%)	12 (1.3%)	3 (0.3%)	36 (3.8%)								90.8	71.9	452	306
060155510541	147	Glacier High School Charter	Public, Charter	9-12	41267 Highway 41	Oakhurst	93644	Madera County	Glacier High School Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 642-1422	82	6	13.1	50.0%	56 (68.3%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (14.6%)	3 (3.7%)	2 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (11.0%)								90.7	69.9	483	336
060004308369	148	Scotts Valley High	Public	9-12	555 Glenwood Dr.	Scotts Valley	95066	Santa Cruz County	Scotts Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 439-9555	655	34	19.3	11.1%	455 (69.5%)	2 (0.3%)	111 (16.9%)	32 (4.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (7.9%)	$7,313							90.7	77.9	367	219
061806002232	149	Marina High	Public	9-12	15871 Springdale St.	Huntington Beach	92649	Orange County	Huntington Beach Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 893-6571	2,007	89	22.5	47.8%	801 (39.9%)	18 (0.9%)	527 (26.3%)	511 (25.5%)	7 (0.3%)	7 (0.3%)	131 (6.5%)	$10,765							90.6	91.6	150	1
060015310930	150	Mark Keppel High	Public	9-12	501 East Hellman Ave.	Alhambra	91801	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-6710	2,178	82	26.5	51.5%	24 (1.1%)	4 (0.2%)	586 (26.9%)	1,480 (68.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.0%)	83 (3.8%)	$10,053							90.5	91.9	141	9

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on CAST Science, Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.