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)
062586003892	771	Twentynine Palms High	Public	9-12	72750 Wildcat Way	Twentynine Palms	92277	San Bernardino County	Morongo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 367-9591	729	37	19.5	66.3%	280 (38.4%)	114 (15.6%)	262 (35.9%)	38 (5.2%)	7 (1.0%)	17 (2.3%)	8 (1.1%)	$7,734							54.4	41.2	1100	329
061518001911	772	Gilroy High	Public	9-12	750 West Tenth St.	Gilroy	95020	Santa Clara County	Gilroy Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(669) 205-5400	1,739	78	22.3	48.8%	197 (11.3%)	15 (0.9%)	1,358 (78.1%)	92 (5.3%)	5 (0.3%)	4 (0.2%)	68 (3.9%)								54.3	32	1360	588
061524000440	773	Verdugo Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	1700 East Mountain St.	Glendale	91207	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 548-0740	224	15	14.9	46.9%	139 (62.1%)	2 (0.9%)	50 (22.3%)	21 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.5%)	$6,952							54.3	67.3	519	254
063255005052	774	Pinole Valley High	Public	9-12	2900 Pinole Valley Rd.	Pinole	94564	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1442	1,280	62	20.7	43.8%	162 (12.7%)	194 (15.2%)	617 (48.2%)	257 (20.1%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.3%)	41 (3.2%)	$6,727							54.2	46.5	958	184
062271012946	775	Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences	Public	9-12	10445 Balboa Blvd.	Granada Hills	91344	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 832-7750	868	45	19.4	64.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,718							54.2	61	634	141
061482001821	776	Galt High	Public	9-12	145 North Lincoln Way	Galt	95632	Sacramento County	Galt Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 745-3081	996	45	21.9	59.3%	244 (24.5%)	9 (0.9%)	675 (67.8%)	9 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (5.6%)								54.2	52.9	803	27
060251314419	777	Mission Vista Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1440 Beaumont Ave	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Mission Vista Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 456-1981	4,794	158	30.3	41.2%	2,167 (45.2%)	169 (3.5%)	1,931 (40.3%)	121 (2.5%)	13 (0.3%)	26 (0.5%)	365 (7.6%)								54.2	53.4	792	15
060003405470	778	Windsor High	Public	9-12	8695 Windsor Rd.	Windsor	95492	Sonoma County	Windsor Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 837-7767	1,603	82	19.6	46.4%	614 (38.3%)	10 (0.6%)	853 (53.2%)	44 (2.7%)	14 (0.9%)	5 (0.3%)	56 (3.5%)	$6,569							54.1	58.5	678	100
063414005344	779	Hollister High	Public	9-12	1220 Monterey St.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	San Benito High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 637-5831	3,465	112	31	44.0%	494 (14.3%)	13 (0.4%)	2,673 (77.1%)	105 (3.0%)	12 (0.3%)	9 (0.3%)	156 (4.5%)	$9,420							54.1	46	972	193
060158112960	780	Laurel Tree Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4555 Valley West Blvd.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Laurel Tree Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-5626	177	14	12.6	42.9%	87 (49.2%)	1 (0.6%)	20 (11.3%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.1%)	1 (0.6%)	62 (35.0%)								54.1	35.8	1253	473

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.