Best High Schools in Santa Ana, CA

Summary:

The city of Santa Ana, California is home to 16 high schools serving grades 9-12, spanning public, public charter, and district-level institutions within the Santa Ana Unified School District, Tustin Unified School District, and several other districts. The schools in this area demonstrate a wide range of academic performance and student outcomes, with stark contrasts between the top-performing and lower-performing institutions.

The standout schools in Santa Ana include Ocsa, a public charter high school that ranks 42nd out of 2,323 California high schools and has a 5-star rating, boasting exceptional academic achievement and a 99.5% four-year graduation rate. Middle College High, a public high school that ranks 58th in the state and also has a 5-star rating, demonstrates outstanding performance with 94.62% of 11th graders proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy. Foothill High, a public high school in the Tustin Unified School District, ranks 155th in California and has a 5-star rating, with 73.82% of 11th graders proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy.

In contrast, some schools in the Santa Ana area face significant challenges, such as Lorin Griset Academy, which has a 54.1% four-year graduation rate and a 45.5% dropout rate, and Cesar E. Chavez High, which has only 6.79% of 11th graders proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy. These disparities in educational outcomes within the Santa Ana area highlight the need for targeted interventions and additional resources to address the underlying issues and improve student success across all schools.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores 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)				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 8th Grade	CAST Science 10th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science End of Course	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 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics End of Course	Total
Nova Academy Early College High	Public, Charter	9-12	500 West Santa Ana Blvd.	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	Nova Academy Early College High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 569-0948	308	16	19.4	90.3%	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	291 (94.5%)	9 (2.9%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	45.7	977^th of 2323 public high schools	57.9%		56	735^th of 2348 public high schools	68.7%	242				20.4	20.4			59.7	59.7			7.8	7.8
Ednovate - Legacy College Prep.	Public, Charter	9-12	1450 17th St.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Ednovate - Legacy College Prep. District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 988-2775	373	15	24.9	70.0%	5 (1.3%)	1 (0.3%)	363 (97.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	49.4	875^th of 2323 public high schools	62.3%		48	913^th of 2348 public high schools	61.1%	38				21.9	21.9			56.5	56.5			16.5	16.5
Samueli Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	1901 North Fairview St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Samueli Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 619-0245	803	40	20.0	75.0%	41 (5.1%)	11 (1.4%)	661 (82.3%)	56 (7.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (3.4%)	49.2	885^th of 2323 public high schools	61.9%		56.6	719^th of 2348 public high schools	69.4%	166	35.5		25.8		31.0	36.6	56.1	57.5	50.3	13.9	33.1	17.2	21.3
Ocsa	Public, Charter	7-12	1010 North Main St.	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	OCSA District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 560-9000	2,252	133	16.9	12.4%	596 (26.5%)	23 (1.0%)	481 (21.4%)	758 (33.7%)	1 (0.0%)	4 (0.2%)	360 (16.0%)	97.5	42^nd of 2323 public high schools	98.2%		97.7	39^th of 2348 public high schools	98.3%	3	60.5	70.4			65.8	85.7	76.7	87.9	83.7	83.4	75.9	65.8	73.8
Cesar E. Chavez High	Public	9-12	2128 South Cypress	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-5700	229	20	11.3	83.4%	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	226 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	7.6	2207^th of 2323 public high schools	5.0%		8.5	2170^th of 2348 public high schools	7.6%	37			1.2	0.0	1.1			6.8	6.8			0.0	0.0	$10,044
Lorin Griset Academy	Public	9-12	1915 West McFadden	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 648-2900	268	18	14.9	75.4%	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	261 (97.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.7%)	7.8	2186^th of 2323 public high schools	5.9%		10	2063^rd of 2348 public high schools	12.1%	123			0.0	0.0	0.0			10.2	10.2			0.0	0.0	$10,109
Saddleback High	Public	7-12	2801 South Flower	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 513-2900	1,597	74	21.4	69.8%	19 (1.2%)	7 (0.4%)	1,523 (95.4%)	38 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	5 (0.3%)	26.3	1520^th of 2323 public high schools	34.6%		25.9	1534^th of 2348 public high schools	34.7%	14	25.6		12.7		13.9	44.0	53.9	30.7	34.5	38.0	41.0	11.7	17.6	$9,442
Santa Ana High	Public	9-12	520 West Walnut	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 567-4900	3,135	135	23.1	71.5%	9 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3,102 (98.9%)	8 (0.3%)	7 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	5 (0.2%)	30.4	1410^th of 2323 public high schools	39.3%		24.8	1569^th of 2348 public high schools	33.2%	159			13.9	0.0	13.5			42.9	42.9			10.7	10.7	$8,161
Valley High	Public	9-12	1801 South Greenville St.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 241-6410	2,197	106	20.7	73.1%	9 (0.4%)	1 (0.0%)	2,129 (96.9%)	44 (2.0%)	4 (0.2%)	4 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	18.5	1722^nd of 2323 public high schools	25.9%		20.4	1694^th of 2348 public high schools	27.9%	28			8.1		8.0			27.2	27.2			8.7	8.7	$9,085
Middle College High	Public	9-12	1530 West 17th St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 953-3900	381	18	21.7	72.4%	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	353 (92.7%)	22 (5.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	96.4	58^th of 2323 public high schools	97.5%		95.3	81^st of 2348 public high schools	96.6%	23			78.5		78.5			94.6	94.6			55.9	55.9	$8,434
REACH Academy	Public	6-12	1325 East 4th St.	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 431-1800	226	11	21.2	78.8%	2 (0.9%)	1 (0.4%)	218 (96.5%)	2 (0.9%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4.7	2309^th of 2323 public high schools	0.6%		5.9	2305^th of 2348 public high schools	1.8%	4	0.0				0.0		0.0		0.0		0.0		0.0	$51,115
Century High	Public	9-12	1401 South Grand Ave.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 568-7000	1,708	97	17.5	70.1%	8 (0.5%)	6 (0.4%)	1,647 (96.4%)	33 (1.9%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	7 (0.4%)	17.6	1743^rd of 2323 public high schools	25.0%		19.4	1715^th of 2348 public high schools	27.0%	28			8.9	3.0	8.3			24.1	24.1			8.8	8.8	$9,415
Segerstrom High	Public	9-12	2301 West MacArthur Blvd.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 241-5000	2,489	98	25.3	63.2%	31 (1.2%)	9 (0.4%)	2,286 (91.8%)	141 (5.7%)	1 (0.0%)	6 (0.2%)	14 (0.6%)	63.5	566^th of 2323 public high schools	75.6%		64.9	559^th of 2348 public high schools	76.2%	7			29.8		29.8			67.0	67.0			27.6	27.6	$7,180
Hector G. Godinez	Public	9-12	3002 Centennial Rd.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 433-6790	2,026	95	21.3	71.7%	14 (0.7%)	2 (0.1%)	1,974 (97.4%)	30 (1.5%)	6 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	61.8	594^th of 2323 public high schools	74.4%		56.9	716^th of 2348 public high schools	69.5%	122			25.2		25.1			66.0	66.0			30.6	30.6	$7,263
College and Career Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	1669 East Wilshire Ave. Ste. 6	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Orange County Department of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 796-8795	156	7	22.2	91.7%	16 (10.3%)	3 (1.9%)	126 (80.8%)	5 (3.2%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	19.2	1695^th of 2323 public high schools	27.0%		21.5	1655^th of 2348 public high schools	29.5%	40				7.1	7.1
Foothill High	Public	9-12	19251 Dodge Ave.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7464	2,276	84	27.1	26.4%	869 (38.2%)	16 (0.7%)	1,016 (44.6%)	235 (10.3%)	7 (0.3%)	5 (0.2%)	125 (5.5%)	90.4	155^th of 2323 public high schools	93.3%		86.5	221^st of 2348 public high schools	90.6%	66			54.8		54.3			73.8	73.8			53.5	53.5	$10,672

Cities Near Santa Ana

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Tustin	1.3 mi	18	358^th
Orange	2.35 mi	31	374^th
Garden Grove	2.76 mi	53	222^nd
Anaheim	4.11 mi	77	504^th
Villa Park	4.53 mi	4	143^rd

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.