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)
062805008676	1041	LIFE Academy	Public	6-12	2101 35th Ave.	Oakland	94601	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-1335	424	26	16.2	95.3%	3 (0.7%)	17 (4.0%)	381 (89.9%)	14 (3.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.9%)	$7,960							43.3	40.1	1135	94
062382003597	1042	Maricopa High	Public	9-12	955 Stanislaus St.	Maricopa	93252	Kern County	Maricopa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 769-8231	84	9	9.6	96.4%	48 (57.1%)	1 (1.2%)	33 (39.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,320							43.3	39.5	1160	118
060196614354	1043	Excelsior Charter School Corona-Norco	Public, Charter	7-12	1400 Fullerton Ave.	Corona	92879	Riverside County	Excelsior Charter School Corona-Norco District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-4262	129	9	13.6	41.9%	42 (32.6%)	4 (3.1%)	77 (59.7%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)								43.3	39.6	1152	109
060167812360	1044	Magnolia Science Academy 4	Public, Charter	6-12	11330 West Graham Pl. B-9	Los Angeles	90064	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy 4 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 473-2464	102	9	11.7	96.1%	3 (2.9%)	9 (8.8%)	88 (86.3%)	2 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								43.2	31	1382	338
060189211225	1045	Leadership Public Schools: Richmond	Public, Charter	9-12	880 Bissell Ave.	Richmond	94801	Contra Costa County	Leadership Public Schools: Richmond District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 235-4522	556	21	26.9	63.7%	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.4%)	524 (94.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.0%)								43.2	25	1559	514
060594000537	1046	Bret Harte Union High	Public	9-12	364 Murphys Grade Rd.	Angels Camp	95221	Calaveras County	Bret Harte Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 736-2507	587	34	17.2	44.1%	403 (68.7%)	4 (0.7%)	139 (23.7%)	6 (1.0%)	6 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (4.9%)	$12,124							43.2	62.9	598	448
062160005726	1047	Freedom High	Public	9-12	1050 Neroly Rd.	Oakley	94561	Contra Costa County	Liberty Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 625-5900	2,527	117	21.6	31.7%	618 (24.5%)	253 (10.0%)	1,222 (48.4%)	223 (8.8%)	10 (0.4%)	11 (0.4%)	185 (7.3%)	$10,732							43.1	49.1	885	162
062949014508	1048	PVUSD Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	250 East Beach St.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(831) 786-2482	152	7	20.3	71.7%	30 (19.7%)	1 (0.7%)	117 (77.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.3%)								43.1	27.2	1499	451
060217010698	1049	Connecting Waters Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12420 Bentley St.	Waterford	95386	Stanislaus County	Connecting Waters Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1119	762	70	10.8	52.9%	302 (39.6%)	14 (1.8%)	302 (39.6%)	53 (7.0%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	83 (10.9%)								43.1	42.5	1058	9
060429013779	1050	21st Century Learning Institute	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	939 East 10th St.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 769-8424	334	7	47.2	61.1%	89 (26.6%)	27 (8.1%)	185 (55.4%)	10 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	19 (5.7%)	$7,891							43	33	1332	282

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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