SamoHI, Malibu High Top Schools

By Jack Simon

Santa Monica and Malibu high schools are now among the top 150 high schools in California.

Santa Monica was ranked 98 while Malibu placed 146 among more than 2600 public high schools in the Golden State, according to rankings by U.S. News and World Report.

U.S. News rankings are determined by college readiness scores, based on demographics, state test scores and college prep exams. Both SMMUSD high schools ranked in the top 1,000 nationally.

The publication surveyed more than 17,800 public high schools nationwide for its 2021 Best High Schools list and released its findings this week. Nationally, Santa Monica ranked 708 while Malibu High ranked 999.

“This recognition by a highly respected publication illustrates that our stellar teachers, staff and leaders are truly supporting and preparing our students for college and career,” SMMUSD Superintendent Ben Drati said. “We congratulate each school site team and our students for their hard work, dedication and forward-thinking.”

To create the rankings, U.S. News focused on six factors: college readiness, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rates. The data used is from the 2018-19 academic school year, and therefore was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, (reflecting the 2017-18 year) Malibu ranked 193 in the state and 1,317 in the country and Samohi ranked 139 in the state and 981 in the nation.

Oxford Academy in Cypress tops the 2021 California best schools list while Thomas Jefferson high school for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Here's are the top 5 California schools: 1) Oxford Academy, Cypress (11 nationally); 2) Whitney high school, Cerritos (25 nationally); 3) California Academy of Mathematics and Science, Carson (32 nationally); 4) Riverside Stem Academy, Riverside (62 nationally); and 5) Mission San Jose High, Fremont (71 nationally).

The 5 top-ranked high schools in nation include Thomas Jefferson high school in Alexandria; Academic Magnet high school in North Charleston, South Carolina; The Davidson Academy of Nevada in Reno, Nevada; Payton College Preparatory high school in Chicago, Illinois; and School for Advanced Studies in Miami, Florida.