These are the 10 best public high schools in California, US News says. See rankings
California has some of the best high schools in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The media website looked at more than 24,000 reviewed public high schools in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to come up with its 2024 Best High Schools rankings, released Tuesday.
U.S. News & World Report ranked a total of 17,655 schools nationwide based on factors including college readiness, curriculum and graduation rates, then assigned them percentile scores. Those rankings included 1,652 schools in California.
The Golden State had a total of 11 schools in the top 100, U.S. News & World Report said.
One California high school even made it into the top 10: Riverside Stem Academy, which landed at No. 10.
The Riverside high school, which prides itself on preparing students to “succeed in 21st century careers as leaders and innovators,” led the list of top-ranked California schools with an overall score of 99.94 out of 100.
Two Los Angeles County schools — Whitney High School in Cerritos and Science Academy Stem Magnet in North Hollywood — landed in second place and third place for the state, respectively.
Here’s how other high schools in California ranked:
What are the best public high schools in California?
These are the top 10 public high schools in California, according to U.S. News & World Report:
Riverside Stem Academy in Riverside
Whitney High School in Cerritos
Science Academy Stem Magnet in North Hollywood
Oxford Academy in Cypress
California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson
Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in Wilmington
Lowell High School in San Francisco
Pacific Collegiate Charter in Santa Cruz
Lynbrook High School in San Jose
Dr. T.J. Owens Gilroy Early Academy College in Gilroy
How did Central Valley schools fare? Central Coast?
According to U.S. News & World Report, the highest ranked high school in the Sacramento area was West Campus High School in Sacramento.
The school, which has an overall score of 99.2 out of 100, was ranked No. 17 in California and No. 142 nationally.
University High School in Fresno was No. 12 in California and No. 110 in the nation with an overall score of 99.38 out of 100.
In the Modesto area, Stockton Unified Early College Academy in Stockton landed at No. 34 in California and No. 278 in the United States, with an overall score of 98.43 out of 100.
On the Central Coast, San Luis Obispo High School was ranked No. 161 in the state and No. 1,210 in the nation. It had an overall score of 93.15 out of 100.
How did US News & World Report come up with rankings?
U.S. News & World Report ranked high schools across the United States based on the following six factors:
College readiness
State assessment proficiency
State assessment performance
Underserved student performance
College curriculum breadth
Graduation rate
“Using this methodology, schools earned an overall percentile score between 0 and 100 at two decimal places,” the site said.
U.S. News drew on data on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams from the College Board and International Baccalaureate.
Individual states provided state assessment data and graduation rates, while other data came from the U.S. Department of Education Common Core of Data.
U.S. News & World Report said it works with RTI International, a nonprofit social science research firm, to assess and rank public high schools across the country, and produce rankings of charter schools and magnet schools.
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