Best Public Schools in San Luis Obispo, CA

Summary:

The city of San Luis Obispo, California is home to 16 schools, including 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 5 high schools, and 2 alternative schools. These schools are part of the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, except for Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter and the schools under the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education.

The data reveals stark contrasts in academic performance among the schools. Teach Elementary and Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter stand out as exceptional, with over 80% of students proficient in English Language Arts and Mathematics, significantly outperforming the district and state averages. In contrast, schools like Grizzly ChalleNGe Charter, Pacific Beach High, and San Luis Obispo County Community struggle to meet academic standards.

The data also reveals a potential correlation between socioeconomic status and student achievement, with schools serving higher percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch generally performing worse academically. However, the presence of alternative schools, such as San Luis County Special Education and San Luis Obispo County Juvenile Court, highlights the importance of providing educational opportunities for vulnerable populations. Overall, the data suggests the need for further investigation into the factors contributing to the disparities in school performance within the San Luis Obispo region.

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2024)				Ranking (2023)				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	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
Pacheco Elementary	Public	K-6	261 Cuesta Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4081	485	20	24.2	38.8%	170 (35.1%)	3 (0.6%)	285 (58.8%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.5%)	77	1290^th of 5862 public elementary schools	78.0%		67.6	1691^st of 5874 public elementary schools	71.2%	401	48.6				48.6	50.0	54.0	64.7	59.0				57.1	70.4	54.7	47.1	47.6				55.3	83.3	85.4	93.8	83.3	87.5	89.6	$12,683
Pacific Beach High	Public	10-12	11950 Los Osos Valley Rd.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4023	67	4	15.8	71.6%	23 (34.3%)	1 (1.5%)	38 (56.7%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (6.0%)	9	2102^nd of 2323 public high schools	9.5%		18.4	1739^th of 2348 public high schools	25.9%	363			3.5		3.0							6.1	6.1							2.9	2.9							$22,873
San Luis Obispo High	Public	9-12	1499 San Luis Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93401	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4040	1,650	78	21.1	39.5%	910 (55.2%)	15 (0.9%)	525 (31.8%)	80 (4.8%)	3 (0.2%)	5 (0.3%)	101 (6.1%)	87.5	209^th of 2323 public high schools	91.0%		93.9	104^th of 2348 public high schools	95.6%	105			54.5	23.5	53.2							71.1	71.1							48.0	48.0							$13,101
Sinsheimer Elementary	Public	K-6	2755 Augusta St.	San Luis Obispo	93401	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4088	370	15	24.6	32.2%	249 (67.3%)	2 (0.5%)	66 (17.8%)	19 (5.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (8.4%)	90.3	687^th of 5862 public elementary schools	88.3%		83.3	1040^th of 5874 public elementary schools	82.3%	353	55.8				55.8	81.0	70.0	74.4	63.0				71.7	76.2	66.7	60.5	60.0				65.8							$12,309
C L Smith Elementary	Public	K-6	1375 Balboa St.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4094	484	22	22.0	56.0%	226 (46.7%)	10 (2.1%)	187 (38.6%)	24 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (7.4%)	83.9	1000^th of 5862 public elementary schools	82.9%		71.1	1532^nd of 5874 public elementary schools	73.9%	532	55.4				55.4	57.1	59.0	70.3	66.1				63.1	70.3	55.0	64.6	48.2				60.0							$13,777
Teach Elementary	Public	4-6	165 Grand Ave.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4100	168	6	28.0	23.8%	119 (70.8%)	1 (0.6%)	13 (7.7%)	14 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (11.3%)								(n/a)	83.9				83.9		83.1	96.4	90.4				89.8		94.9	92.9	86.5				91.6							$11,338
Peep - Prepare	Public, Alternative	K-12	1500 Lizzie St.	San Luis Obispo	93401	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 549-1220	24	3	7.9	16.7%	10 (41.7%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (45.8%)	1 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (4.2%)	1 (4.2%)								(n/a)
Bishop's Peak Elementary	Public	K-6	451 Jaycee Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4030	368	16	23.0	30.2%	235 (63.9%)	3 (0.8%)	58 (15.8%)	27 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	44 (12.0%)	81.2	1103^rd of 5862 public elementary schools	81.2%		76.6	1295^th of 5874 public elementary schools	78.0%	192	42.2				42.2	68.5	69.1	53.3	62.1				63.3	77.8	73.8	46.7	44.8				60.3	95.2	96.8			96.8		$11,697
Hawthorne Elementary	Public	K-6	2125 Story St.	San Luis Obispo	93401	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4070	415	19	21.8	51.1%	185 (44.6%)	1 (0.2%)	168 (40.5%)	16 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (10.6%)	80.3	1137^th of 5862 public elementary schools	80.6%		69.5	1600^th of 5874 public elementary schools	72.8%	463	64.9				64.9	65.2	55.6	70.3	53.3				60.9	67.2	53.7	75.7	37.0				58.3							$13,176
Laguna Middle	Public	7-8	11050 Los Osos Valley Rd.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4055	845	41	20.7	41.8%	472 (55.9%)	15 (1.8%)	254 (30.1%)	40 (4.7%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	52 (6.2%)	91	254^th of 2777 public middle schools	90.9%		91.2	256^th of 2802 public middle schools	90.9%	2		59.0			59.0					65.6	69.9		67.7					55.6	64.4		60.0							$11,622
Los Ranchos Elementary	Public	K-6	5785 Los Ranchos Rd.	San Luis Obispo	93401	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4075	502	22	22.8	21.1%	350 (69.7%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (13.9%)	26 (5.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (11.0%)	91.4	610^th of 5862 public elementary schools	89.6%		92.6	528^th of 5874 public elementary schools	91.0%	82	55.2				55.2	71.1	70.7	72.4	71.4				71.4	72.6	75.9	60.3	66.7				69.3	88.0	94.0			94.0	94.0	$11,784
Grizzly ChalleNGe Charter	Public, Charter	10-12	721 Mendocino Ave. Camp San Lu	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Obispo County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 782-6882	225	15	15.2	85.8%	15 (6.7%)	8 (3.6%)	190 (84.4%)	3 (1.3%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.1%)	10.7	1966^th of 2323 public high schools	15.4%		18.1	1743^rd of 2348 public high schools	25.8%	223				8.0	8.0							15.3	15.3							0.0	0.0							$14,475
San Luis Obispo County Juvenile Court	Public	6-12	1065 Kansas Ave.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Obispo County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 781-5395	16	2	8.0	81.3%	4 (25.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (75.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																												$35,372
San Luis County Special Education	Public, Alternative	K-12	3360 Education Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Obispo County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 593-3186	20	4	5.0	85.0%	13 (65.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (35.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)													0.0															$7,415
San Luis Obispo County Community	Public	6-12	2494 Pennington Creek Rd.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Obispo County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 782-7354	73	4	18.1	83.6%	17 (23.3%)	2 (2.7%)	49 (67.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (6.8%)	10	2021^st of 2323 public high schools	13.0%		4.8	2320^th of 2348 public high schools	1.2%	299					5.6							14.8	12.8							3.7	2.6							$28,054
Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter	Public, Charter	K-6	1401 San Luis Bay Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 595-7169	164	7	23.4	15.9%	131 (79.9%)	1 (0.6%)	15 (9.1%)	8 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.5%)	96	265^th of 5862 public elementary schools	95.5%		94.1	425^th of 5874 public elementary schools	92.8%	160	78.3				78.3	66.7	84.2	95.7	89.5				83.5	83.3	63.2	82.6	89.5				80.0	91.7	91.7

Cities Near San Luis Obispo

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Pismo Beach	7.07 mi	2	150^th
Grover Beach	9.23 mi	3	463^rd
Santa Margarita	9.73 mi	2	199^th
Arroyo Grande	9.88 mi	8	265^th
Los Osos	10.45 mi	3	119^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.