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)
062949007436	2281	New School Community Day	Public	9-12	165 Harkins Slough Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 761-6140	40	4	9.9	97.5%	1 (2.5%)	1 (2.5%)	38 (95.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								6.3	9	2131	150
063570006098	2282	Olympic High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	721 Ocean Park Blvd.	Santa Monica	90405	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 392-2494	32	3	12.8	59.4%	5 (15.6%)	4 (12.5%)	20 (62.5%)	1 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (6.3%)	$22,353							6.3			(n/a)
069104107887	2283	Petersen Alternative Center for Education at John B Allard	Public	6-12	3113 Mitchell Rd.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Stanislaus County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 238-6717	117	8	14.4	84.6%	21 (17.9%)	5 (4.3%)	86 (73.5%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	2 (1.7%)	$13,109							6.2	5.3	2315	32
069103707220	2284	Shasta County Special Education	Public, Alternative	K-12	3711 Oasis Rd.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Shasta County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 410-6088	30	3	9.8	66.7%	18 (60.0%)	2 (6.7%)	4 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (6.7%)	$41,303							6.1	6.1	2302	18
060202411686	2285	La Vida Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16201 North Highway 101	Willits	95490	Mendocino County	La Vida Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 459-6344	71	6	12.8	83.1%	26 (36.6%)	1 (1.4%)	25 (35.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (22.5%)								6.1			(n/a)
069104007225	2286	Sonoma County Special Education	Public, Alternative	K-12	5340 Skylane Blvd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Sonoma County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 524-2710	212	25	8.3	42.9%	75 (35.4%)	7 (3.3%)	108 (50.9%)	8 (3.8%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	12 (5.7%)	$45,174							6.1	6.8	2279	7
060141806997	2287	Bravo Lake High	Public	9-12	450 W. Sequoia	Woodlake	93286	Tulare County	Woodlake Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 564-8716	36	2	18	94.4%	3 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (88.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,708							6	8.1	2196	91
060004507089	2287	North Valley High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	220 Roosevelt Ave.	Orland	95963	Glenn County	Orland Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 865-1285	43	2	19.4	79.1%	6 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (83.7%)	1 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,805							6	10.1	2053	234
061284008831	2287	Vista High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	1520 Yosemite Ave.	Escalon	95320	San Joaquin County	Escalon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 838-1450	38	2	25	76.3%	8 (21.1%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (78.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								6	15.1	1830	457
063984006609	2290	Trona High	Public	7-12	83600 Trona Rd.	Trona	93562	San Bernardino County	Trona Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 372-2824	116	8	13.6	74.1%	71 (61.2%)	7 (6.0%)	34 (29.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.4%)	$25,490							6	11.2	1996	294

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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