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)
060594000538	2121	Vallecito Continuation High	Public	9-12	364 Murphys Grade Rd.	Altaville	95221	Calaveras County	Bret Harte Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 736-2507	46	2	24.7	47.8%	29 (63.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (28.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (6.5%)	$10,157							8.7	20.6	1687	434
063567006082	2122	Delta High	Public	9-12	4893 Bethany Ln.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 937-6356	341	16	21.5	78.3%	40 (11.7%)	5 (1.5%)	286 (83.9%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	$12,564							8.7	9.4	2097	25
062067008712	2123	Lakeport Alternative (Home School)	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	2548 Howard Ave.	Lakeport	95453	Lake County	Lakeport Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(707) 262-3013	81	5	16.2	77.8%	34 (42.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (35.8%)	1 (1.2%)	11 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (7.4%)								8.6	20.9	1681	442
064308007010	2124	Cache Creek High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	145 Second St.	Yolo	95697	Yolo County	Woodland Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 662-4331	154	10	15.9	87.7%	21 (13.6%)	1 (0.6%)	131 (85.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,542							8.6	7.9	2207	83
060180310709	2125	Valley Oak Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	907 El Centro St.	Ojai	93023	Ventura County	Valley Oak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 640-4421	50	2	25	30.0%	40 (80.0%)	1 (2.0%)	5 (10.0%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.0%)								8.6	46.1	970	1155
061954009145	2126	Vista West Continuation High	Public	9-12	7115 Rosedale Hwy.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 589-4242	312	19	16.3	83.0%	103 (33.0%)	30 (9.6%)	157 (50.3%)	4 (1.3%)	3 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	10 (3.2%)	$13,547							8.6	9.2	2117	9
062271003322	2127	San Antonio Continuation	Public	9-12	2911 Belgrave Ave.	Huntington Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 826-2420	87	6	14.2	97.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,172							8.6	10.6	2022	105
062271014112	2128	Horace Mann UCLA Community	Public	6-12	7001 South Saint Andrews Pl.	Los Angeles	90047	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 541-1900	516	33	15.5	95.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,356							8.6	12.1	1949	179
060285000213	2129	Live Oak High (Continuation)	Public	10-12	1708 F St.	Antioch	94509	Contra Costa County	Antioch Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 779-7440	148	8	17.6	83.1%	16 (10.8%)	47 (31.8%)	77 (52.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.0%)	3 (2.0%)	$12,595							8.6	9.5	2093	36
061954013031	2130	Tierra Del Sol Continuation High	Public	9-12	3700 East Belle Terrace	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Kern High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 832-3700	273	16	17.2	95.6%	13 (4.8%)	22 (8.1%)	234 (85.7%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,320							8.6	9.1	2128	2

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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