La Cañada vs South Pasadena vs Arcadia: SGV Schools Compared

These five districts are near neighbors, so a family house-hunting in one may well be looking at the others. A district’s name travels as one reputation. Your child attends particular schools, though, and in two of these districts the address also changes the middle or high school.

Where does each address lead, from kindergarten to 12th grade?

An attendance boundary is the line that sets which public school an address is assigned to. We drew each district’s routes from the federal survey of those boundaries: which middle school and high school each elementary school’s area is zoned for.

Three districts have a single path. In La Cañada, all three elementary schools teach through 6th grade and send every child to La Cañada High, which teaches grades 7 through 12. The district calls those middle years “La Cañada 7/8” (LCUSD). San Marino’s two elementary schools lead to Huntington Middle, then San Marino High. South Pasadena’s three lead to South Pasadena Middle, then South Pasadena Senior High.

In the La Cañada, San Marino and South Pasadena districts, the address picks only the elementary school, and every scored stop on those paths places at the 95th percentile or higher in the score years above. The rest of the path is the same for every family in the district.

Arcadia splits once. Its six elementary schools feed three middle schools, two each, and all three middle schools feed Arcadia High, in the 89th percentile.

Glendale splits twice. Its 20 elementary schools feed four middle schools, which feed three high schools. Of those three, Crescenta Valley High places highest, in the 92nd percentile. A few attendance areas divide: John Muir Elementary’s area splits between two middle schools, and Theodore Roosevelt Middle’s splits between Glendale High and Herbert Hoover High. Glendale also runs Clark Magnet High, which no address leads to; families apply.

The boundary survey dates from 2015–16, and districts redraw lines. While each single-path district keeps one middle and one high school, a redrawn line there can change only the elementary school. A city mailing address doesn’t always match the school district, either. Before you rely on any route, and especially one in Arcadia or Glendale, confirm the assigned schools for the exact address with the district.

How do the five districts compare, and why does the order change by school level?

A district average mixes all of those stops together. On the combined district score, using the score years above, La Cañada averages 87.3, South Pasadena 84.3, San Marino 83.8, Arcadia 64.7 and Glendale 53.9. That number averages every scored school level in the district, with each one counting equally.

Our score runs higher at high school. A typical California high school scores about 20 points above a typical elementary school that holds the same place among its peers, as our county ranking explains. Near the top of the state the gap is about half that. So a district with one high school and only a few other schools gets more lift from it than a district with many elementary schools. Percentiles don’t have that problem, because each school is compared only with schools at its own level.

At one level at a time, La Cañada’s three elementary schools average 85.2 and San Marino’s two average 83.5. South Pasadena has the highest-placed middle school of the five, and La Cañada has the highest-placed high school.

Compare these districts one school level at a time, by percentile, not by the combined score. Choose a stage below to see every school at that level side by side.

Data source: California Department of Education, 2025–26 state tests and school-climate measures; high-school Scope Scores and college/career inputs remain 2024–25. Scope Score methodology →

That leaves the choice inside each district, which starts with the elementary school.

Which elementary school would we get, and how different are they?

Three terms come up below and on every school profile:

• Exceeded rate: the average of the reported shares of students reaching the top test level in English and math, with each tested grade and subject counted equally. It is not the share of individual children who exceeded.
• Grade gap: this year’s older students’ results minus this year’s younger students’ results at the same school. They are different children tested in the same year. “pp” means percentage points.
• Growth position: how a school’s grade group compares with the same school’s grade group two years earlier, against other California schools. For elementary schools, that’s 2026 fifth graders compared with 2024 third graders. Families move in and out, so it doesn’t follow each child. We show it only for groups of at least 40 tested students.

The two comparisons can point different ways, and neither proves what a school caused. They’re good sources of questions for a visit.

San Marino: two close schools

Carver Elementary scores 84 and Valentine Elementary scores 83, both in the 98th percentile in 2025–26. Carver ranks 84th of 5,726 scored California elementary schools and Valentine 97th. Their exceeded rates are 64.5% and 65.9%.

Chronic absence was 2.6% at Carver and 1.6% at Valentine. Chronic absence means missing at least 10% of the school days a student was expected to attend. Carver’s growth position is a little above typical, and Valentine’s is about typical. Their grade gaps are −5.4 and −12.3 points: this year’s younger classes scored higher than this year’s older classes.

With just two elementary schools and close scores, San Marino is relatively straightforward to compare. Confirm the assigned school all the same; here the district average is a useful starting point.

La Cañada: three strong schools, spread wider

La Cañada’s elementary schools rank 23rd, 62nd and 133rd of the 5,726. Two are in the statewide top 100. La Cañada Elementary scores 90, with a 65.8% exceeded rate and a growth position well above typical. Paradise Canyon scores 80, with a −2.6-point grade gap and a growth position above typical.

Palm Crest has the highest exceeded rate of the three, 70.3%, and scores 85. Its grade gap is −2.8 points, meaning this year’s 3rd graders outscored this year’s 5th graders. Its growth position is a little below typical. That is a comparison with other California schools’ cohorts, so it doesn’t by itself mean scores fell.

For a child who already finds the work easy, we’d ask to see how 4th- and 5th-grade teachers build on it. Chronic absence across the three ran 2.3% to 3.2%, against 15.6% at the median California elementary school we score.

South Pasadena: one leader, three different schools

Marengo Elementary scores 85 and ranks 70th statewide, with a 68.4% exceeded rate. Its grade gap is −2.3 points, yet its growth position is a little above typical. The two numbers compare different groups, so a negative gap isn’t proof that children lost ground.

Monterey Hills scores 81, with a +8.1-point gap and a growth position well above typical. Arroyo Vista scores 77, with a +2.5-point gap and a growth position about typical. Their exceeded rates are nearly identical, 59.2% and 59.1%. Once you know your assigned campus, ask how teachers notice a child who needs more help, or more challenge.

Arcadia: six schools and three middle schools

Arcadia’s six elementary schools run from 76 down to 52. Camino Grove leads in the 96th percentile, followed by Highland Oaks in the 94th. Longley Way is at the lower end, in the 78th.

The two leaders lead to different middle schools. Camino Grove feeds Richard Henry Dana Middle, and Highland Oaks feeds Foothills Middle.

In Arcadia, the address picks the middle school as well as the elementary school. We’d look at both before choosing between two houses a mile apart.

Camino Grove has a +8.2-point grade gap and a growth position well above typical. Highland Oaks has a −0.8-point gap and a growth position above typical.

Glendale: twenty schools, and one path at the top

Glendale has 20 elementary schools in our data, against San Marino’s two. Their scores run from 81 down to 26, so one district average leaves out a lot.

Valley View scores 81 and ranks 113th statewide, with a 59.7% exceeded rate and 1.8% chronic absence. Its score is within the range of South Pasadena’s elementary schools. Monte Vista scores 75, Abraham Lincoln 74, Benjamin Franklin 72 and Mountain Avenue 69.

Four of Glendale’s five highest-placed elementary schools in 2025–26 lead to Rosemont Middle and then Crescenta Valley High. Benjamin Franklin leads instead to Eleanor J. Toll Middle and Herbert Hoover High. Seven elementary schools lead to Rosemont, and six of them are in La Crescenta. Start with the campus you could attend, then follow its path in the figure.

What are the middle schools like?

After elementary school the paths separate. South Pasadena Middle scores 89, ranks 13th of 2,529 scored California middle schools and sits in the 99th percentile. Its exceeded rate is 59.7%, and its growth position is well above typical.

Huntington Middle in San Marino scores 84 and ranks 47th, in the 97th percentile. Its exceeded rate is higher, at 62.3%, while its growth position is a little below typical. Ask how students who arrive ahead are challenged through 8th grade.

La Cañada’s middle years have no middle-school score in our data. Its 6th graders stay at their elementary schools, and grades 7 and 8 are at La Cañada High, so the school doesn’t fit our middle-school score. The test results are there, though. In spring 2026, about 89% of La Cañada’s 7th and 8th graders met or exceeded the state standard in English, and 85% in math. That combined rate includes Proficient (met) and Advanced (exceeded), the top two levels on the current English and math reports. That English rate was the highest in this group for those grades. In math it was below Huntington’s 88%, with South Pasadena Middle at 82%. (Our arithmetic: grades 7 and 8 together, weighted by the number of students tested.)

Arcadia’s three middle schools sit between the 87th and 93rd percentiles. Richard Henry Dana scores 72 and ranks 132nd, Foothills scores 69 and First Avenue 62. If your child is still in preschool, middle school can feel too far away to weigh. Visit the assigned middle school anyway before choosing an address.

Glendale’s middle schools need the most care, and here our own data surprised us. We expected the middle school we can’t score to be a hole in Glendale’s picture. Instead it sits on the district’s strongest path.

Rosemont Middle teaches only grades 7 and 8, so it has no Scope Score; our middle-school score needs results from a grade it doesn’t teach. It tested about 1,200 students in each subject in 2026, about 600 in each grade. About 78% of its 7th and 8th graders met or exceeded the English standard and 71% the math standard, close to Arcadia’s middle schools (71–75% and 66–71%). Its chronic absence was 6.8%.

Glendale’s strongest path runs through Rosemont, a middle school with no Scope Score. Its 2026 test results and attendance are on its profile.

Glendale’s other elementary schools lead to Eleanor J. Toll, Woodrow Wilson or Theodore Roosevelt, which score 47, 53 and 44. About 50% to 55% of their 7th and 8th graders met or exceeded the English standard, and 35% to 49% the math standard. Chronic absence ran from 14.0% to 16.6%. Wilson’s growth position is above typical. South Pasadena Middle has the highest growth position among the middle schools in this comparison.

Which high school, and how do we get into Clark?

The paths come back together at high school, except in Glendale. High-school scores, ranks, exceeded rates and college/career inputs below remain on the reviewed 2024–25 model; chronic absence is from 2025–26. La Cañada High scores 94 and ranks 10th of 1,498 scored California high schools, in the 99th percentile. Its graduation rate was 98.9%. On the state’s College/Career Indicator, which counts students who met college- or career-ready measures, CDE places 331 of 356 students, or 93.0%, at its top level, Prepared. They measure different things, so read them as two separate facts.

South Pasadena Senior High scores 86 and ranks 41st; San Marino High scores 85 and ranks 52nd. Their scores are close, and their attendance isn’t: chronic absence was 6.3% at South Pasadena and 0.5% at San Marino. Graduation rates were 96.3% and 97.1%.

Arcadia High scores 75 and ranks 158th, in the 89th percentile. Its exceeded rate is 37.9%, its graduation rate 99.1%, and CDE reports 602 of 797 students, or 75.5%, Prepared. High graduation and lower test results can sit side by side; ask about the courses and support behind both.

SchoolScope uses CDE’s overall College/Career Indicator Prepared rate. We withhold a high-school score when the published group has fewer than 30 students; that is our reliability rule, not CDE’s publication threshold.

Glendale: the high school for your address, or Clark

Crescenta Valley High scores 78 and ranks 119th, in the 92nd percentile. It’s the high school on the Rosemont path. Herbert Hoover High scores 55 and Glendale High 48, with chronic absence of 25.0% and 20.0%. Roosevelt Middle’s area divides between those two, so families in the four elementary areas that lead to Roosevelt should check the exact street.

Clark Magnet High scores 87 and ranks 34th, and no address leads there. Glendale Unified’s magnet FAQ says Clark “only accepts applications for residents of the Glendale Unified School District.” It asks for at least a 2.0 grade average in middle-school core subjects, readiness for Integrated Math I by the end of 8th grade, and limits on discipline marks and absences. Among eligible applicants, seats go by random selection, and the FAQ says all of them “have the same chance and equal opportunity.” It also describes an option for families in escrow on a home in the district.

A Glendale Unified address lets your child apply to Clark; it doesn’t hold a seat. The FAQ gives no dates for Clark, so confirm the next application window on Clark’s enrollment page.

What do growth and grade gaps tell us about these schools?

So far these numbers say where each school stands. Growth asks whether its students are moving. The grade gap compares two different classes in the same year. The growth position compares a school’s class with the same school’s class two years earlier, against other schools. Here’s where the two land, side by side, for the elementary schools with the ten highest growth positions.

Balboa Elementary in Glendale leads at well above typical, on a −0.1-point grade gap. La Cañada Elementary follows with a +3.9-point gap. Glendale has six of the ten: Balboa, Glenoaks, Valley View, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Mark Keppel. Their growth positions are above typical or well above typical even though the district trails on overall scores.

A wide grade gap and a strong growth position are different findings, and here they often disagree. Benjamin Franklin sits above typical with a −14.7-point grade gap. Camino Grove has Arcadia’s widest positive gap, +8.2 points, and a growth position well above typical. Two years is a short window, and a class can arrive stronger or weaker for reasons outside the school. We’d take either number into a visit as a question.

Money is the other explanation parents reach for.

Do the districts spend differently, and does it matter?

In 2024–25, Arcadia spent the most of the five per student, $18,100, and South Pasadena the least, $15,959. Glendale spent $17,464, La Cañada $17,349 and San Marino $16,729. These are the California Department of Education’s figures for day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance (ADA), the total days students attended divided by the days of instruction.

South Pasadena spent the least of the five, and every school on its path places at the 95th percentile or higher in the score years above. Arcadia spent the most, and its middle and high schools placed lower than South Pasadena’s.

Five districts are five observations, so this is an association, not an explanation. One year of operating spending leaves out past investment, buildings, what it costs to hire in each town, and how many students arrive needing more support.

What would we tell a friend?

We’d choose the path before the house. Here’s how the five read, path first.

In La Cañada, every address leads to the same place, and that place holds the highest-placed high school in the group. The middle years happen inside La Cañada High; they have no middle-school score in our data, and their 7th and 8th graders posted the group’s highest English rate in 2026.

San Marino is the easiest to read. Two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school all placed between the 96th and 98th percentiles in the score years above, with the lowest high-school chronic absence of the five.

South Pasadena has the highest-placed middle school of the group, and the rest of its path keeps up through graduation. It also spent the least of the five, which tells you something about this cluster but not about what money does.

In Arcadia, the elementary school picks the middle school, so check both for any address. Its stops placed from the 78th to the 96th percentile.

In Glendale, the address decides everything. The strong path runs from elementary schools mostly in La Crescenta through Rosemont to Crescenta Valley High. Rosemont is the middle school missing from Glendale’s scored list, and it belongs in the picture. Clark takes applications only from Glendale Unified residents and fills its seats by lottery among eligible applicants.

Then put the commute and care arrangements beside these results. This comparison doesn’t account for home prices. A visit to the schools on your path is where you can ask how the day would work for your child, including the parts that never show up in a test score.

Check your neighborhood

Enter your zip code to find individual schools.