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)
063900006542	331	Templeton High	Public	9-12	1200 Main St.	Templeton	93465	San Luis Obispo County	Templeton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 434-5888	738	37	20	20.5%	472 (64.0%)	3 (0.4%)	190 (25.7%)	8 (1.1%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	60 (8.1%)	$9,654							79.6	63.4	591	260
063877006520	332	Tahoe Truckee High	Public	9-12	11725 Donner Pass Rd.	Truckee	96161	Nevada County	Tahoe-Truckee Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 582-2600	894	46	19.5	25.1%	548 (61.3%)	2 (0.2%)	279 (31.2%)	8 (0.9%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	50 (5.6%)	$15,227							79.6	77.2	380	48
063386005296	333	El Toro High	Public	9-12	25255 Toledo Way	Lake Forest	92630	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 586-6333	1,972	89	22.1	50.7%	644 (32.7%)	31 (1.6%)	867 (44.0%)	280 (14.2%)	4 (0.2%)	7 (0.4%)	135 (6.8%)	$6,328							79.6	74.7	415	82
060200307250	334	Natomas Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4600 Blackrock Dr.	Sacramento	95835	Sacramento County	Natomas Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 928-5353	1,863	84	22.1	39.7%	363 (19.5%)	190 (10.2%)	549 (29.5%)	436 (23.4%)	1 (0.1%)	11 (0.6%)	312 (16.7%)								79.5	79	342	8
061443001696	335	Fremont High	Public	9-12	575 West Fremont Ave.	Sunnyvale	94087	Santa Clara County	Fremont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 522-2400	2,169	97	22.3	23.9%	368 (17.0%)	31 (1.4%)	922 (42.5%)	650 (30.0%)	18 (0.8%)	19 (0.9%)	161 (7.4%)								79.5	81	310	25
060816000790	336	Alta Loma High	Public	9-12	8880 Baseline Rd.	Alta Loma	91701	San Bernardino County	Chaffey Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 989-5511	2,400	99	24.1	60.6%	569 (23.7%)	133 (5.5%)	1,429 (59.5%)	133 (5.5%)	10 (0.4%)	10 (0.4%)	113 (4.7%)	$9,899							79.5	74.9	414	78
063432011146	337	Kearny School of Biomedical Science and Technology	Public	9-12	1954 Komet Way	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 221-5300	335	10	31.9	80.3%	36 (10.7%)	25 (7.5%)	181 (54.0%)	62 (18.5%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	28 (8.4%)	$8,681							79.5	78.7	349	12
062409008671	338	Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts	Public, Charter	7-12	1917 B St.	Marysville	95901	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 749-6157	371	22	16.8	41.5%	123 (33.2%)	3 (0.8%)	141 (38.0%)	30 (8.1%)	3 (0.8%)	3 (0.8%)	68 (18.3%)								79.5	75.8	401	63
064059002846	339	Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	100 McClellan St.	Vacaville	95688	Solano County	Vacaville Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 453-7300	474	24	19.4	30.8%	194 (40.9%)	32 (6.8%)	124 (26.2%)	40 (8.4%)	2 (0.4%)	4 (0.8%)	77 (16.2%)	$9,291							79.4	84.8	242	97
062772004196	340	San Marin High	Public	9-12	15 San Marin Dr.	Novato	94945	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 898-2121	1,186	56	21.1	23.6%	602 (50.8%)	13 (1.1%)	365 (30.8%)	102 (8.6%)	6 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	93 (7.8%)	$8,335							79.2	82.3	288	52

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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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.