The K12Niche.com website created a list of important factors in grading the success of a high school, and evaluating secondary schools in that light, ranked them from best to worst. Elements graded for the Niche Report included academics, health & safety, surveys of parents and students on the overall experience, student culture & diversity, teachers, resources & facilities, extracurriculars & activities, and sports & fitness. (My two cents: I think it’s wonderful that they are counting much more than test scores!)
In the San Jose Metro Area (click on link to see full list), the top ranked schools are:
- Saratoga High School in Saratoga (ranked # 3 in California)
- Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto (ranked #4 in California)
- Lynbrook High School in San Jose (serves parts of Saratoga and Cupertino also) (# 12 in California)
- Los Altos High School in Los Altos (# 19 in California)
- Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto (# 27 in California)
- Mountain View High School (serves parts of Los Altos too)
- Monta Vista High School in Cupertino
- Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos
- Homestead High School in Cupertino
- Cupertino High School in Cupertino
- Leland High School in San Jose (southern Almaden Valley)
Please click on the link above to see the ranking of the next 30 in the San Jose area.
The San Francisco Metro Area seems to include a huge area, some of which may more properly be said to be a part of the San Jose area, such as Fremont. Given that some of the SF “area” covers several counties and part is really within Silicon Valley, these good schools should be mentioned also. I’m not going to list all of them, only those close to or in Silicon Valley. Also, because a far greater area is covered, the lower rankings should be understood as within the context of a much greater pool of competition.
See the whole SF area by clicking on the link.
- Ranking 5th in the SF list is Amador High School in Pleasanton
- Ranking 6th in the SF list is Burlingame High School in Burlingame
- Ranking 10th in the SF list is Mission San Jose High School in Fremont
- Ranking 11th in the SF list is San Mateo High in San Mateo
- Ranking 12th is Foothill High in Pleasanton
- Ranking 15th is Hillside High in San Mateo
- Ranking 17th is Aragon High in San Mateo
- and many more: Carlmont, Menlo-Atherton, Mills, Irvington, Sequoia all are in the top 25%
What about private high schools?
Yes, there’s a Niche ranking for private high schools too. However, a closer look at the details and it’s apparent that far fewer criteria were used with these grades. Not sure why there’s less that went into the private school rankings. There are 15 private high schools in the San Jose Metro Area, and the top five are Harker (San Jose), Oakwood Country School (Morgan Hill), Bellarmine College Prep (San Jose), Notre Dame High (San Jose) and St. Francis High (Mountain View). To see the broader SF area, click on this link, which appears to cover San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties.
