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)
064030006665	1191	Ukiah High	Public	9-12	1000 Low Gap Rd.	Ukiah	95482	Mendocino County	Ukiah Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 472-5750	1,679	89	18.8	73.3%	584 (34.8%)	7 (0.4%)	894 (53.2%)	35 (2.1%)	88 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (3.7%)	$6,940							37.9	39.3	1165	26
060157908070	1192	Opportunities for Learning - William S. Hart	Public, Virtual, Charter	7-12	27616 Newhall Ranch Rd.	Valencia	91355	Los Angeles County	Opportunities for Learning - William S. Hart District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 607-0153	454	18	24.9	63.7%	182 (40.1%)	15 (3.3%)	198 (43.6%)	9 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	33 (7.3%)								37.9	37.1	1222	30
062691013202	1193	Decoto School for Independent Study	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	725 Whipple Rd.	Union City	94587	Alameda County	New Haven Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(510) 476-2696	295	16	18.5	47.8%	26 (8.8%)	24 (8.1%)	129 (43.7%)	86 (29.2%)	3 (1.0%)	8 (2.7%)	19 (6.4%)	$13,116							37.9	35.3	1271	78
062676004057	1194	Needles High	Public	9-12	1600 Washington St.	Needles	92363	San Bernardino County	Needles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 326-2191	293	15	20	71.7%	130 (44.4%)	5 (1.7%)	97 (33.1%)	1 (0.3%)	45 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.1%)	$9,587							37.9	35.3	1272	78
060897000899	1195	Cloverdale High	Public	9-12	509 North Cloverdale Blvd.	Cloverdale	95425	Sonoma County	Cloverdale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 894-1900	390	21	18.1	43.3%	132 (33.8%)	2 (0.5%)	229 (58.7%)	2 (0.5%)	10 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.3%)								37.7	30.8	1390	195
060263000176	1196	Katella High	Public	9-12	2200 East Wagner Ave.	Anaheim	92806	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 999-3621	2,587	110	23.4	89.0%	80 (3.1%)	38 (1.5%)	2,349 (90.8%)	92 (3.6%)	3 (0.1%)	3 (0.1%)	21 (0.8%)	$11,220							37.7	38.2	1199	3
060282013154	1197	Academies of the Antelope Valley	Public, Charter	6-12	6300 West Avenue L	Quartz Hill	93536	Los Angeles County	Antelope Valley Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 943-3031	665	31	21.6	65.4%	95 (14.3%)	79 (11.9%)	428 (64.4%)	20 (3.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	40 (6.0%)	$11,963							37.6	39	1173	24
060257414622	1198	River Islands High	Public, Charter	9-12	2760 Penrose Ln.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	River Islands High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 717-6715	108	9	11.6	38.9%	12 (11.1%)	7 (6.5%)	32 (29.6%)	49 (45.4%)	2 (1.9%)	1 (0.9%)	5 (4.6%)								37.5			(n/a)
063384011194	1199	The MET	Public, Charter	9-12	810 V St.	Sacramento	95818	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5417	222	13	16.4	53.6%	60 (27.0%)	21 (9.5%)	103 (46.4%)	13 (5.9%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (10.8%)	$9,467							37.5	56.5	723	476
060196412477	1200	iQ Academy California-Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	iQ Academy California-Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,289	55	23.4	74.6%	194 (15.1%)	285 (22.1%)	685 (53.1%)	76 (5.9%)	21 (1.6%)	11 (0.9%)	17 (1.3%)								37.5	35.3	1274	74

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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

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.