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)
060263000172	201	Cypress High	Public	9-12	9801 Valley View St.	Cypress	90630	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4144	2,820	115	24.4	48.5%	540 (19.1%)	91 (3.2%)	879 (31.2%)	1,116 (39.6%)	7 (0.2%)	13 (0.5%)	169 (6.0%)	$10,868							87.8	90.6	163	38
060191414083	202	California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley	Public, Charter	9-12	1401 Highland Ave.	Duarte	91010	Los Angeles County	California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(657) 321-4000	945	61	15.5	19.5%	218 (23.1%)	14 (1.5%)	361 (38.2%)	137 (14.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	163 (17.2%)								87.8	90.1	172	30
060247813797	203	Valley View Charter Prep	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	31400 S Koster Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	Valley View Charter Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(866) 992-9033	613	22	27.3	26.1%	305 (49.8%)	38 (6.2%)	106 (17.3%)	122 (19.9%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	34 (5.5%)								87.8	81.2	307	104
060215914091	204	Connecting Waters Charter - East Bay	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	703 C St.	Union City	94587	Alameda County	Connecting Waters Charter - East Bay District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1119	494	44	11.1	27.1%	121 (24.5%)	18 (3.6%)	77 (15.6%)	191 (38.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (17.2%)								87.7	87.2	217	13
060164813354	205	Summit Public School: Shasta	Public, Charter	9-12	905 Campus Dr.	Daly City	94015	San Mateo County	Summit Public School: Shasta District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 799-4719	442	17	25.6	26.0%	17 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	116 (26.2%)	243 (55.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	61 (13.8%)								87.7	84.1	254	49
060723008350	206	Branham High	Public	9-12	1570 Branham Ln.	San Jose	95118	Santa Clara County	Campbell Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 626-3407	1,990	83	24	29.6%	744 (37.4%)	39 (2.0%)	581 (29.2%)	452 (22.7%)	7 (0.4%)	4 (0.2%)	154 (7.7%)	$7,279							87.7	93.5	114	92
063432005520	207	Mira Mesa High	Public	9-12	10510 Marauder Way	San Diego	92126	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 566-2262	2,219	89	25	54.4%	233 (10.5%)	89 (4.0%)	567 (25.6%)	1,019 (45.9%)	6 (0.3%)	13 (0.6%)	290 (13.1%)	$7,159							87.7	88.7	200	7
063432005479	208	Henry High	Public	9-12	6702 Wandermere Dr.	San Diego	92120	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 286-7700	2,607	96	27	34.9%	1,011 (38.8%)	163 (6.3%)	814 (31.2%)	390 (15.0%)	1 (0.0%)	3 (0.1%)	223 (8.6%)	$7,298							87.5	84.5	247	39
063480005880	209	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	1,644	79	20.9	26.6%	926 (56.3%)	11 (0.7%)	510 (31.0%)	88 (5.4%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.2%)	91 (5.5%)	$13,101							87.5	93.9	104	105
060744012894	210	California Preparatory Academy	Public, Virtual	9-12	32972 Calle Perfecto	San Juan Capistrano	92675	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 234-5317	225	9	26	28.9%	146 (64.9%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (20.4%)	13 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	19 (8.4%)	$13,811							87.5	84.8	241	31

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

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.