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)
062515003734	621	Fred C. Beyer High	Public	9-12	1717 Sylvan Ave.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Modesto City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1647	1,575	68	23	55.5%	493 (31.3%)	53 (3.4%)	761 (48.3%)	98 (6.2%)	6 (0.4%)	14 (0.9%)	150 (9.5%)								60.6	62.3	612	9
060252114432	622	Compass Charter School of Yolo	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. R	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter School of Yolo District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	671	28	24.2	39.2%	398 (59.3%)	16 (2.4%)	154 (23.0%)	24 (3.6%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	70 (10.4%)								60.6	60.7	645	23
060797014570	623	Justin Garza High	Public	9-12	4100 North Grantland Ave.	Fresno	93723	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 274-4700	1,539	70	21.8	75.0%	201 (13.1%)	120 (7.8%)	916 (59.5%)	258 (16.8%)	8 (0.5%)	4 (0.3%)	27 (1.8%)								60.5	64.7	561	62
060178913564	624	Valor Academy High	Public, Charter	9-12	9356 Lemona Ave.	North Hills	91343	Los Angeles County	Valor Academy High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 934-8910	498	25	20.1	94.6%	5 (1.0%)	4 (0.8%)	476 (95.6%)	6 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)								60.5	55.4	750	126
060200013537	625	Camino Nuevo High #2	Public, Charter	9-12	3500 West Temple St.	Los Angeles	90004	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo High #2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 736-5566	465	26	17.7	96.3%	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	263 (56.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	198 (42.6%)								60.5	69.3	496	129
062553003839	626	Monterey High	Public	9-12	101 Herrmann Dr.	Monterey	93940	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 392-3801	1,399	66	21.2	45.0%	425 (30.4%)	69 (4.9%)	692 (49.5%)	137 (9.8%)	5 (0.4%)	28 (2.0%)	42 (3.0%)	$5,678							60.4	66.5	535	91
063684006264	627	Royal High	Public	9-12	1402 Royal Ave.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 306-4875	1,973	89	22	41.4%	777 (39.4%)	21 (1.1%)	968 (49.1%)	134 (6.8%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	67 (3.4%)	$7,629							60.4	66.7	530	97
061623002019	628	El Capitan High	Public	9-12	10410 Ashwood St.	Lakeside	92040	San Diego County	Grossmont Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 938-9100	1,825	80	22.7	52.2%	976 (53.5%)	33 (1.8%)	618 (33.9%)	59 (3.2%)	36 (2.0%)	3 (0.2%)	100 (5.5%)	$12,074							60.4	55.1	758	130
060141406029	629	San Marcos Senior High	Public	9-12	4750 Hollister Ave.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 967-4581	2,020	94	21.5	57.1%	709 (35.1%)	9 (0.4%)	1,154 (57.1%)	58 (2.9%)	5 (0.2%)	4 (0.2%)	78 (3.9%)	$12,018							60.3	62.5	608	21
060964012664	630	Century Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	33 Greta St.	Thousand Oaks	91360	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 496-0286	260	21	12.5	24.6%	152 (58.5%)	8 (3.1%)	70 (26.9%)	13 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	13 (5.0%)	$10,296							60.3	70	482	148

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.