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)
063459005725	41	Leland High	Public	9-12	6677 Camden Ave.	San Jose	95120	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6290	1,593	56	28.2	10.5%	480 (30.1%)	12 (0.8%)	165 (10.4%)	780 (49.0%)	5 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	148 (9.3%)	$10,686							97.5	97.7	40	1
060228408546	42	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	97.7	39	3
062724011702	43	Early College High	Public	9-12	2990 Mesa Verde Dr.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-7990	201	12	17.3	59.7%	61 (30.3%)	3 (1.5%)	109 (54.2%)	18 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.5%)								97.4	97.7	41	2
063153012216	44	Del Norte High	Public	9-12	16601 Nighthawk Ln.	San Diego	92127	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 487-0877	2,531	95	26.5	10.2%	888 (35.1%)	33 (1.3%)	276 (10.9%)	1,069 (42.2%)	4 (0.2%)	5 (0.2%)	251 (9.9%)	$7,079							97.4	97.8	35	9
060165000033	45	Campolindo High	Public	9-12	300 Moraga Rd.	Moraga	94556	Contra Costa County	Acalanes Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 280-3950	1,343	68	19.6	5.0%	838 (62.4%)	17 (1.3%)	110 (8.2%)	222 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.1%)	152 (11.3%)	$14,236							97.3	98	31	14
060254208363	46	Pacific Collegiate Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	3004 Mission St.	Santa Cruz	95060	Santa Cruz County	Pacific Collegiate Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 479-7785	533	34	15.5	9.0%	335 (62.9%)	3 (0.6%)	95 (17.8%)	35 (6.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (11.8%)								97.3	97.3	49	3
061623010630	47	Grossmont Middle College High	Public	11-12	8800 Grossmont College Dr.	El Cajon	92020	San Diego County	Grossmont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 644-7524	49	2	23.4	46.9%	29 (59.2%)	1 (2.0%)	10 (20.4%)	3 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (12.2%)	$8,758							97.1	88.3	205	158
060165000032	48	Acalanes High	Public	9-12	1200 Pleasant Hill Rd.	Lafayette	94549	Contra Costa County	Acalanes Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 280-3970	1,259	65	19.2	7.7%	827 (65.7%)	12 (1.0%)	131 (10.4%)	145 (11.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	137 (10.9%)	$14,694							97.1	97	53	5
060176611314	49	Renaissance Arts Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2558 North San Fernando Rd.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Renaissance Arts Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 259-5700	454	28	16.3	64.5%	114 (25.1%)	37 (8.1%)	239 (52.6%)	47 (10.4%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)								97	95.4	80	31
060002014629	50	The Pleasanton Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	245 Abbie St.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(925) 426-4260	85	5	16.2	15.3%	23 (27.1%)	5 (5.9%)	13 (15.3%)	34 (40.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.5%)	7 (8.2%)								96.8	95.3	82	32

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.