Best Public Schools in Chico, CA

Summary:

The city of Chico, California is home to 32 schools, including 18 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 7 high schools, and 4 alternative schools, all part of the Chico Unified School District except for several charter schools with their own districts. The data reveals a diverse landscape, with some standout high-performing schools like Sierra View Elementary and Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, alongside struggling alternative and continuation programs.

The charter schools in Chico, such as CORE Butte Charter, Nord Country, and Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, generally outperform the traditional public schools in the Chico Unified School District on key metrics like graduation rates, test scores, and chronic absenteeism. In contrast, the alternative and continuation schools struggle with very low graduation rates, high dropout rates, and poor academic performance.

The data also highlights significant socioeconomic disparities among the schools, with free/reduced lunch rates ranging from 22.27% at Nord Country to 92.31% at Butte County Community. This underscores the importance of school choice and the role that charter schools can play in providing high-quality educational options for families in the Chico area.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2024)				Ranking (2023)				CSA Spanish Reading/Language Arts (2024)				CAST Science (2024)					Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2024)								Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2024)								% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Polio (2022)	% Hepatitis B (2022)	% Varicella (2022)	% DTP (2022)	% MMR (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CSA Spanish Reading/Language Arts 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Reading/Language Arts 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading/Language Arts 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading/Language Arts End of Course	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science End of Course	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy End of Course	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics End of Course	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Hepatitis B KG	% Varicella KG	% DTP KG	% MMR KG	Total
Blue Oak Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	450 West East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Blue Oak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 879-7483	263	13	20.2	57.4%	167 (63.5%)	6 (2.3%)	54 (20.5%)	4 (1.5%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	27 (10.3%)	36	3431^st of 5862 public elementary schools	41.5%		49.8	2540^th of 5874 public elementary schools	56.8%	891					31.8	30.4			31.1	42.9	48.2	36.4	25.9	28.6	30.4		35.8	39.3	26.9	18.2	13.8	19.1	40.9		26.4	80.0	85.0	87.5
Wildflower Open Classroom	Public, Charter	K-8	2414 Cohasset Rd. Ste. 3	Chico	95926	Butte County	Wildflower Open Classroom District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 892-1676	146	9	16.2	26.0%	112 (76.7%)	6 (4.1%)	18 (12.3%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.5%)	56.3	2217^th of 5862 public elementary schools	62.2%		69.1	1614^th of 5874 public elementary schools	72.5%	603					38.9				42.9	41.2	39.1	61.1	42.9	50.0			47.9	47.1	39.1	38.9	42.9	41.7			41.5
Achieve Charter School of Chico	Public, Charter	K-8	1494 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Achieve Charter School of Chico District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-4100	225	10	23.1	44.9%	158 (70.2%)	2 (0.9%)	36 (16.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (12.0%)	53.2	2388^th of 5862 public elementary schools	59.3%		60.4	2039^th of 5874 public elementary schools	65.3%	349					46.2	36.8			42.2	62.5	33.3	53.9	29.2	27.3	52.6		43.2	50.0	41.7	26.9	29.2	27.3	31.6		34.5
Bidwell Junior High	Public	6-8	2376 North Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3080	990	42	23.6	57.4%	583 (58.9%)	12 (1.2%)	237 (23.9%)	57 (5.8%)	9 (0.9%)	7 (0.7%)	81 (8.2%)	67	738^th of 2777 public middle schools	73.4%		71	667^th of 2802 public middle schools	76.2%	71						42.8			42.8				49.9	63.6	59.0		57.0				26.4	36.4	41.5		34.3							$10,802
Chapman Elementary	Public	K-5	1071 East 16th St.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3100	300	13	23.8	89.3%	91 (30.3%)	10 (3.3%)	121 (40.3%)	21 (7.0%)	13 (4.3%)	4 (1.3%)	40 (13.3%)	15.3	5269^th of 5862 public elementary schools	10.1%		15.7	5254^th of 5874 public elementary schools	10.6%	15					15.1				15.1	26.2	16.0	18.9					20.0	26.2	12.0	13.2					16.6							$14,287
Chico Junior High	Public	6-8	280 Memorial Way	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3066	928	38	24.3	62.8%	396 (42.7%)	15 (1.6%)	354 (38.1%)	61 (6.6%)	8 (0.9%)	7 (0.8%)	81 (8.7%)	64.2	796^th of 2777 public middle schools	71.3%		71	669^th of 2802 public middle schools	76.1%	127						47.4			47.4				47.0	54.2	50.8		50.9				28.6	35.7	39.2		34.8							$11,564
Chico High	Public	9-12	901 Esplanade	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3026	1,905	87	21.9	52.2%	994 (52.2%)	44 (2.3%)	566 (29.7%)	91 (4.8%)	28 (1.5%)	8 (0.4%)	169 (8.9%)	73.8	424^th of 2323 public high schools	81.7%		77.5	377^th of 2348 public high schools	83.9%	47							44.2	15.0	43.0							67.3	67.3							31.0	31.0							$11,876
Citrus Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	1350 Citrus Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3107	341	16	21.3	86.2%	98 (28.7%)	15 (4.4%)	123 (36.1%)	43 (12.6%)	3 (0.9%)	3 (0.9%)	56 (16.4%)	28.7	4045^th of 5862 public elementary schools	31.0%		26.2	4256^th of 5874 public elementary schools	27.5%	211					16.1				16.1	26.2	37.7	28.1					30.3	26.2	41.5	21.8					29.5	95.6			95.6			$13,113
Fair View High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	290 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3092	130	10	13.3	73.8%	59 (45.4%)	5 (3.8%)	48 (36.9%)	1 (0.8%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (10.0%)	11	1943^rd of 2323 public high schools	16.4%		11.2	1992^nd of 2348 public high schools	15.2%	49							2.7		2.7							13.9	13.9							5.4	5.4							$19,642
Hooker Oak Elementary	Public	K-5	1238 Arbutus Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3119	291	16	18.1	49.5%	201 (69.1%)	4 (1.4%)	50 (17.2%)	3 (1.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (10.7%)	62.9	1928^th of 5862 public elementary schools	67.1%		54.8	2292^nd of 5874 public elementary schools	61.0%	364					54.9				54.9	39.6	39.5	60.4					47.0	41.5	57.1	42.3					46.3	95.1	95.1	96.7		95.1		$11,924
Marigold Elementary	Public	K-5	2446 Marigold Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3121	568	22	26.0	47.5%	339 (59.7%)	16 (2.8%)	119 (21.0%)	24 (4.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (11.8%)	55.8	2242^nd of 5862 public elementary schools	61.8%		59.7	2068^th of 5874 public elementary schools	64.8%	174					35.4				35.4	34.9	53.3	53.1					47.2	33.7	53.3	37.8					42.0							$10,947
McManus (John A.) Elementary	Public	K-5	988 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3128	415	19	21.3	81.2%	159 (38.3%)	12 (2.9%)	165 (39.8%)	29 (7.0%)	7 (1.7%)	2 (0.5%)	41 (9.9%)	33.7	3624^th of 5862 public elementary schools	38.2%		23.9	4463^rd of 5874 public elementary schools	24.0%	839					26.2				26.2	33.9	30.4	48.4					37.9	31.8	19.6	23.1					25.0	97.3				97.3		$11,894
Neal Dow Elementary	Public	K-5	1420 Neal Dow Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3110	335	19	17.6	68.7%	185 (55.2%)	3 (0.9%)	90 (26.9%)	8 (2.4%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (13.4%)	65.1	1810^th of 5862 public elementary schools	69.1%		72.4	1482^nd of 5874 public elementary schools	74.8%	328					42.9				42.9	47.7	56.9	54.8					53.8	43.2	47.2	42.9					44.9	95.9			97.3			$12,543
Parkview Elementary	Public	K-5	1770 East Eighth St.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3114	406	19	21.7	50.2%	224 (55.2%)	7 (1.7%)	95 (23.4%)	15 (3.7%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (14.5%)	74.5	1383^rd of 5862 public elementary schools	76.4%		75.7	1342^nd of 5874 public elementary schools	77.2%	41					53.1				53.1	40.6	54.1	61.7					53.0	53.1	59.5	56.8					56.6	96.9			96.9			$11,752
Pleasant Valley High	Public	9-12	1475 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 879-5100	1,840	86	21.4	46.1%	1,100 (59.8%)	48 (2.6%)	390 (21.2%)	132 (7.2%)	23 (1.3%)	4 (0.2%)	132 (7.2%)	76.6	376^th of 2323 public high schools	83.8%		82.4	286^th of 2348 public high schools	87.8%	90							39.9	6.7	38.8							68.8	68.8							39.2	39.2							$11,384
Rosedale Elementary	Public	K-5	100 Oak St.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3104	543	24	22.5	53.4%	128 (23.6%)	1 (0.2%)	365 (67.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (8.7%)	52.1	2442^nd of 5862 public elementary schools	58.3%		65.4	1791^st of 5874 public elementary schools	69.5%	651	8.9	11.8	3.7	8.2	32.1				32.1	39.8	46.9	41.6					42.7	48.9	51.2	28.4					43.1	95.8			95.8			$10,431
Shasta Elementary	Public	K-5	169 Leora Ct.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3141	646	29	22.2	45.2%	391 (60.5%)	11 (1.7%)	155 (24.0%)	24 (3.7%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	59 (9.1%)	61.1	2023^rd of 5862 public elementary schools	65.5%		71.9	1498^th of 5874 public elementary schools	74.5%	525					32.0				32.0	51.8	46.7	45.7					48.2	54.8	58.1	33.3					49.4							$9,655
Sierra View Elementary	Public	K-5	1598 Hooker Oak Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3117	456	22	20.9	33.6%	307 (67.3%)	1 (0.2%)	64 (14.0%)	29 (6.4%)	5 (1.1%)	2 (0.4%)	48 (10.5%)	90.3	684^th of 5862 public elementary schools	88.3%		95.2	340^th of 5874 public elementary schools	94.2%	344					57.6				57.6	69.6	67.1	71.2					69.1	75.4	75.3	57.6					70.0							$10,366
Emma Wilson Elementary	Public	K-5	1530 West Eighth Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3297	565	28	19.8	62.8%	304 (53.8%)	24 (4.2%)	133 (23.5%)	31 (5.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	69 (12.2%)	54.1	2334^th of 5862 public elementary schools	60.2%		51.9	2439^th of 5874 public elementary schools	58.5%	105					43.3				43.3	37.1	38.1	57.3					44.1	41.2	40.5	39.3					40.4	97.4						$10,758
Marsh (Harry M.) Junior High	Public	6-8	2253 Humboldt Rd.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-4110	732	37	19.7	50.5%	417 (57.0%)	15 (2.0%)	159 (21.7%)	51 (7.0%)	8 (1.1%)	4 (0.5%)	76 (10.4%)	77.7	530^th of 2777 public middle schools	80.9%		75.8	564^th of 2802 public middle schools	79.9%	34						45.0			45.0				45.4	70.0	67.9		60.9				39.6	48.0	51.3		46.3							$10,641
Oakdale	Public, Alternative	K-12	290 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3092	81	3	31.1	77.8%	41 (50.6%)	2 (2.5%)	23 (28.4%)	1 (1.2%)	2 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (13.6%)								(n/a)						6.7	5.6		6.1						13.3	15.8	13.6					0.0	13.3	0.0	4.4							$11,184
Little Chico Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	2090 Amanda Way	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3285	431	22	19.4	74.2%	161 (37.4%)	15 (3.5%)	141 (32.7%)	30 (7.0%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	77 (17.9%)	54.4	2314^th of 5862 public elementary schools	60.5%		48.4	2614^th of 5874 public elementary schools	55.5%	300					24.6				24.6	56.0	40.6	49.2					48.8	59.2	35.7	30.8					42.7	94.3	95.7	97.1		95.7		$12,225
Academy for Change	Public	6-12	290 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3092	24	2	12.6	79.2%	12 (50.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (45.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																																$16,714
Center for Alternative Learning	Public	6-12	290 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3092	30	3	9.9	100.0%	11 (36.7%)	4 (13.3%)	10 (33.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (16.7%)	4.6	2312^th of 2323 public high schools	0.5%		8.5	2168^th of 2348 public high schools	7.7%	144						0.0			0.0						0.0		0.0						0.0		0.0							$10,814
Oak Bridge Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1350 East Lassen Ave.	Chico	95973	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 897-8877	130	8	16.3	69.2%	60 (46.2%)	1 (0.8%)	48 (36.9%)	4 (3.1%)	1 (0.8%)	1 (0.8%)	15 (11.5%)								(n/a)							9.4		14.3							54.6	52.5							5.5	13.8
Butte County Community	Public, Alternative	K-12	500 Orient St. Ste. 105	Chico	95928	Butte County	Butte County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-9741	39	3	11.2	92.3%	12 (30.8%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (35.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.1%)	1 (2.6%)	9 (23.1%)								(n/a)																	24.0								12.0							$16,752
Achieve Charter High	Public	9-12	1494 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Butte County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-4100	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Butte County Regional Occupational Program	Public	9-12	2491 Carmichael Dr. Ste. 500	Chico	95928	Butte County	Butte County Regional Occupational Program	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(530) 879-7462	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Pivot Charter School North Valley II	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	1350 East Ninth St. Ste. 150	Chico	95928	Butte County	Pivot Charter School North Valley II District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 636-4479	87	7	12.8	65.5%	51 (58.6%)	1 (1.1%)	19 (21.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (16.1%)	32.9	1341^st of 2323 public high schools	42.3%		31.5	1373^rd of 2348 public high schools	41.5%	32																36.4	40.0							18.2	13.3
Inspire School of Arts and Sciences	Public, Charter	9-12	335 West Sacramento Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Inspire School of Arts and Sciences District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3090	366	20	18.1	42.9%	237 (64.8%)	5 (1.4%)	55 (15.0%)	5 (1.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.9%)	88.4	192^nd of 2323 public high schools	91.7%		93.4	119^th of 2348 public high schools	94.9%	73								69.5	69.5							78.8	78.8							40.0	40.0
Chico Country Day	Public, Charter	K-8	102 West 11th St.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Country Day District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-2650	566	24	23.5	25.3%	388 (68.6%)	8 (1.4%)	84 (14.8%)	25 (4.4%)	6 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	51 (9.0%)	71.9	1498^th of 5862 public elementary schools	74.4%		65.4	1787^th of 5874 public elementary schools	69.6%	289					42.4	41.9			42.2	56.7	61.3	61.0	60.7	73.8	47.5		60.2	53.3	54.8	32.2	44.6	47.5	42.6		46.0
CORE Butte Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2847 Notre Dame Blvd.	Chico	95928	Butte County	CORE Butte Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 894-3952	848	52	16.4	45.6%	596 (70.3%)	9 (1.1%)	153 (18.0%)	14 (1.7%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	69 (8.1%)								(n/a)					37.8	39.7	39.1		39.1	43.2	40.0	46.0	51.7	47.7	54.8	51.1	49.0	56.8	30.0	32.4	32.8	42.2	38.0	23.7	35.0	49.2	52.5	71.2	52.5	52.5	54.2
Sherwood Montessori	Public, Charter	K-8	1010 Cleveland Ave.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Sherwood Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 345-6600	98	8	12.3	43.9%	52 (53.1%)	5 (5.1%)	14 (14.3%)	3 (3.1%)	2 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (22.4%)	51.5	2473^rd of 5862 public elementary schools	57.8%		49.8	2541^st of 5874 public elementary schools	56.7%	68									46.7	27.3	50.0		41.7				47.5	45.5	46.7		33.3				31.7	76.2	81.0	90.5	81.0	81.0	90.5
Nord Country	Public, Charter	K-8	5554 California St.	Chico	95973	Butte County	Nord Country District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3138	211	10	21.7	22.3%	157 (74.4%)	1 (0.5%)	39 (18.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.2%)	85.1	945^th of 5862 public elementary schools	83.9%		79.7	1180^th of 5874 public elementary schools	79.9%	235					56.5	52.0			54.2	58.3	78.3	73.9	68.2	73.9	72.0		70.7	87.5	69.6	60.9	27.3	56.5	48.0		58.6

Cities Near Chico

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Paradise	2.6 mi	18	626^th
Hamilton City	9.14 mi	4	755^th
Durham	10.19 mi	3	177^th
Forest Ranch	11.55 mi	2	337^th
Orland	12.61 mi	12	569^th

See the top CA California cities

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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.