Best High Schools in California

Best High Schools
in California

We reviewed 21,776 U.S. public high schools; 500+ California schools made our rankings. View Rankings

Before graduating from a California high school, students must take 13 specific yearlong courses and pass the California High School Exit Examination that covers English language arts and math, according to the California Department of Education.

California is home to more than 500 schools ranked among the U.S. News Best High Schools in 2012. One of California's gold medal schools is the highly ranked Oxford Academy, which is located in the Anaheim Union High School District—about 25 miles from Los Angeles and roughly 400 miles from the state capital of Sacramento.

Top Ranked CA Schools

To be eligible for a state ranking, a school must be awarded a national gold or silver medal.

#1

Oxford Academy

5172 ORANGE AVE, CYPRESS, CA 90630

#2

Pacific Collegiate School

255 SWIFT ST, SANTA CRUZ, CA 95060

#5

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy

251 BAYSIDE RD, ARCATA, CA 95521

#6

Whitney High School

16800 SHOEMAKER AVE, CERRITOS, CA 90703

#7

Roseland University Prep

100 SEBASTOPOL RD, SANTA ROSA, CA 95407

#8

The Preuss School UCSD

9500 GILMAN DR MC 0536, LA JOLLA, CA 92093

#9

Lennox Mathematics, Science & Technology Academy

11036 HAWTHORNE BLVD, LENNOX, CA 90304

#10

University High School

2355 EAST KEATS M/S UH134, FRESNO, CA 93740

#11

Lowell High School

1101 EUCALYPTUS DR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132

#12

Hawthorne Math and Science Academy

4467 WEST BROADWAY, HAWTHORNE, CA 90250

See complete California High School Rankings

CA by the Numbers

Districts 515
High Schools 2,407
Full-Time Teachers 87,544
Students Enrolled 1,996,674

Featured Districts
Schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District are among the 2012 U.S. News Best High Schools.
Los Angeles Unified School District

The Los Angeles Unified School District supports 197 high schools that serve 207,534 students.

Schools in the San Diego Unified School District are among the 2012 U.S. News Best High Schools.
San Diego Unified School District

There are 48 high schools in the San Diego Unified School District, serving 41,429 students.

Antelope Valley Union High

Chaffey Joint Union High

East Side Union High

Kern Union High

Long Beach Unified School District

Los Angeles Unified School District

San Diego Unified School District

Sweetwater Union High

See all districts

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