LOS ANGELES, CA — More than 25 Southern California school districts earned A+ grades, in Niche’s 2024 Best Schools and Districts rankings released this week.
San Diego Union High School District earned the top ranking among Southland schools, coming in second to the Bay Area’s Palo Alto Unified School District a letter grade of A+. The districts were graded based upon:
- Academics
- Teachers
- Clubs and activities
- Sports
- Resources and facilities
- Diversity
- College prep
- Administration
- and Food.
The top 25 school districts in Southern California and the letter grades assigned by Niche include:
- San Diego Union High School District, Encinitas, A+
- Arcadia Unified School District, Arcadia, A+
- Redondo Beach Unified School District, Redondo Beach, A+
- Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, Palos Verdes Estates, A+
- San Marino Unified School District, San Marino, A+
- La Canada Unified School Districtt, La Canada, A+
- Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, Santa Monica, A+
- Irvine Unified School District, Irvine, A+
- Laguna Beach Unified School District, Laguna Beach, A+
- Poway Unified School District, San Diego, A+
- El Segundo Unified School District, El Segundo, A+
- Los Alamitos Unified School District, A+
- Oak Park Unified School District, Oak Park, A+
- Huntington Beach Union High School District, Huntington Beach, A+
- Coronado Unified School District, Coronado, A+
- Carlsbad Unified School District, Carlsbad, A+
- Manhattan Beach Unified School District, Manhattan Beach, A+
- Fullerton Joint Union High School District, Fullerton, A+
- Beverly Hills Unified School District, Beverly Hills, A+
- Walnut Valley Unified School District, Walnut, A+
- William S. Hart Union High School District, Santa Clarita, A+
- Wiseburn Unified School District, El Segundo, A+
- Capistrano Unified School District, San Juan Capistrano, A+
- Conejo Valley Unified School District, Thousand Oaks, A+
- Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District, A+
Niche also ranked 94,058 public schools and 30,809 private schools. The platform said its rankings were created to provide families with valuable information — both quantitative and qualitative — on schools in their area or in a neighborhood they’re not familiar with yet.
Niche also released its list of The Top 25 Public Schools In Southern California this week. The list was dominated by the Peninsula, Santa Clara County and the East Bay, although one school in the North Bay broke through.
The rankings differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.
Here is the list of California’s Top 25 school districts:
