La Cañada vs South Pasadena vs Arcadia: SGV Schools Compared

You're at a birthday party in Pasadena and someone mentions they're looking at houses in La Cañada. Another parent says South Pasadena is just as good for half the premium. A third swears by Arcadia. Someone whispers San Marino like it's a secret handshake.

That's the school conversation in the San Gabriel Valley. These five districts share freeways, grocery stores, and youth soccer leagues, so they're the ones parents actually cross-shop. Nobody cross-shops La Cañada against the Westside.

We can't tell you what a house costs on either side of that comparison, and this post doesn't try. What we can do is the school half. So we pulled the 2025 CAASPP scores for all five districts — elementary, middle, and high school — because the address you buy usually sets your default path from kindergarten through 12th grade. Here's what the numbers say.

The districts, head to head

Data: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024–25. Live table — updates with current D1 data.

The first thing that jumps out: La Cañada leads the All Levels ranking at 83.5 across 4 schools, with San Marino right behind at 82.1. The other three are further back than the birthday-party conversation suggests — South Pasadena 79.5, Arcadia 61.4, Glendale 50.1. That's a 33-point spread across five districts people talk about as if they're interchangeable.

Look at elementary alone and La Cañada's lead disappears. San Marino's two elementary schools average 81.6 against La Cañada's 80.4, so the two are effectively tied. La Cañada's edge in the combined number comes from its high school. (The three-school minimum only gates the All Levels tally above — the Elementary tab has no such floor, so San Marino's two campuses show up there too, at #2 in the county.)

The top school from each district

Five districts, five top elementary schools. Two of our numbers need a sentence of explanation before they're useful.

Exceeded rate is the share of students who scored in the top band, Standard Exceeded, rather than just meeting the standard. We average the English and math figures at the tested grade — grades 3 and 5 for elementary, 6 and 8 for middle, grade 11 for high school. CDE publishes those percentages one subject at a time; the average is ours, and it won't match any single number on a state report.

The grade 3 to grade 5 gap is the other one. It's this year's 5th graders minus this year's 3rd graders at the same school. Two different sets of children, tested in the same window. It's not the same kids followed for two years, so it can't tell you what a school did for any one student. What a wide gap tells you is that the older class outscored the younger one. We show it because that's still worth asking about on a tour, and our methodology page explains how it feeds into the score.

San Marino: the quiet frontrunner

Carver Elementary and Valentine Elementary are both among the highest-scoring in the state. Carver scores 82.6, which puts it around 52nd of every public elementary school in California. Valentine is close behind at 80.6.

What's striking about San Marino is the consistency. Carver hits 68.5% exceeded and Valentine 63.9%. Absenteeism is 4.2% at Carver and 3.8% at Valentine. Neither school shows the wide negative grade gap that turns up at some high-scoring schools: Carver's 3-to-5 gap is −0.2pp and Valentine's is +3.4pp, so the two classes scored close to each other.

The demographics: San Marino's two elementary schools are 58-65% Asian, 13-18% white, and 6-8% Hispanic. Free lunch eligibility is about 11% at both, against 5-7% across La Cañada's three schools. That gap of a few points is a difference in family income and nothing else. We don't score it, and we can't tell you it explains why either district lands where it does.

The San Marino case: If you're going on elementary test scores alone, San Marino has the best numbers in this cluster. Two schools, both near the top of the state, and the score you get doesn't depend on which one you're zoned for.

La Cañada: the reputation holds — mostly

La Cañada is the name everyone knows, and the data mostly backs it up. Its three elementary schools rank 35th, 112th and 138th of the 5,744 public elementary schools we score statewide. All three are in the top 3%. Only one is in the top 100 — the reputation is a little ahead of the spread.

La Cañada Elementary is the district's highest scorer at 85.0: 63.2% exceeded, a 3-to-5 gap of +1.2pp, 3.9% absenteeism.

Paradise Canyon Elementary scores 79.0 on a lower exceeded rate (55.1%) and the district's widest positive gap, +5.9pp.

Palm Crest Elementary has the district's highest exceeded rate at 67.6%, and the lowest Scope Score of the three at 77.1. What pulls it down is a −9.1pp gap: this year's 3rd graders outscored this year's 5th graders by nine points. Two different classes, as above.

Absenteeism across all three schools runs 3.9-4.8%. For comparison, the median California elementary school sits at 16.9%.

The La Cañada case: Three strong schools, closer together than the reputation of any one of them, at 85.0, 79.0 and 77.1. The school with the highest exceeded rate is the one at the bottom of that list. If you're touring Palm Crest, ask what the 5th grade year looks like for a kid who already tests well.

South Pasadena: keeps up all the way through

Marengo Elementary leads the district with a Scope Score of 82.9, ranked 50th in the state. That's about two points behind La Cañada Elementary and a few tenths ahead of San Marino's Carver. Its exceeded rate of 66.9% is higher than two of La Cañada's three schools.

The grade gaps are the soft spot. Marengo's is −5.4pp and Arroyo Vista Elementary (72.5) is wider at −11.7pp. Only Monterey Hills Elementary (73.3) is positive, at +4.5pp, and its exceeded rate of 52.0% is the district's lowest.

Same shape as Palm Crest: high scores, with the 3rd grade class scoring above the 5th. Different children, so nobody can tell from this number whether a given kid gained ground or lost it. Ask a principal what changed between those two classes.

The three schools also differ from each other demographically. Marengo is 42% Asian, 18% white, 15% Hispanic. Monterey Hills is 28% Asian, 17% white, 35% Hispanic. Whether that matters to you is your call, but it's worth knowing the two schools aren't interchangeable on that front.

The South Pasadena case: Marengo puts you near the top of the state. Its wide grade gap is a fair question for a tour, and no wider than Palm Crest's in La Cañada. And as the middle and high school sections below show, South Pasadena doesn't thin out after elementary.

Arcadia: bigger district, wider spread

Arcadia has six elementary schools in our data, and the variation tells an important story.

At the top, Highland Oaks Elementary has the widest positive grade gap in the five-district cluster: +9.9pp. Camino Grove Elementary follows at +5.8pp. At both schools the 5th grade class outscored the 3rd grade class by a lot. Different children, same day — it tells you nothing about what either school did for any one student.

The district average gets pulled down by schools like Hugo Reid Elementary (53.3, with a −14.5pp gap running the other way). Arcadia's best elementary school scores 72.8 and its lowest 53.3, a spread of about 20 points inside one district.

That spread is why Arcadia sits at 61.4 across all levels while South Pasadena sits at 79.5 — 18 points apart, not the couple of points the birthday-party version of this conversation implies. Arcadia's top schools are good. Its average is carrying a lot of range.

Arcadia's elementary schools run 53-69% Asian, the highest share in this group. Free lunch eligibility ranges from 19% at Highland Oaks to 50% at Holly Avenue — a wide range in family income across six schools in one small district.

The Arcadia case: Look up the school you'd actually be zoned for. Camino Grove (72.8) and Highland Oaks (72.5) sit at the top; Hugo Reid is about 20 points below them. The district average of 62.6 doesn't tell you which one you'd get.

Glendale: the scale challenge

Glendale Unified is a fundamentally different beast: 20 elementary schools in our data, serving a huge, diverse community. Comparing its district average to San Marino's two schools isn't really fair.

But here's what's worth knowing: Glendale's top school, Monte Vista Elementary, scores 78.2, 118th in the state. Monte Vista hits 66.5% exceeded with 3.2% absenteeism. That would place it comfortably inside South Pasadena's range.

Behind it, the drop is quick: Valley View at 70.8, Mountain Avenue at 65.0, Dunsmore at 62.5. Those are decent schools that would sit at the bottom of any other district on this list.

At the other end, Glendale has five elementary schools scoring under 36, and five with absenteeism above 15%. Twenty schools average out to 49.7, and only two of the twenty land within three points of that average.

The Glendale case: If you're zoned for Monte Vista or Valley View, you have a genuinely strong school. Look up your specific school before you look at the district — Glendale's elementary schools run from 78.2 down to 20.3, and one district average can't stand in for a 58-point range.

Where the 5th graders outscore the 3rd graders by the most

Here are the widest positive grade 3 to grade 5 gaps across all five districts:

Arcadia and Glendale take up most of that list, and the highest-scoring districts barely appear on it. Part of that is arithmetic: where 3rd graders already score near the ceiling, the 5th grade class has less headroom to score above them. Highland Oaks appears on both lists — 72.5 overall and the cluster's widest gap at +9.9pp.

We can't tell you why any of these gaps exist. It might be what happens in the upper grades. It might just be that a stronger group of kids landed in 5th grade this year, or that a lot of families moved in and out between the two classes. All we've measured is a difference between two groups of children. So take it into a tour as a question: "your 5th grade scores sit well above your 3rd grade — what's going on there?" A principal who can answer that is telling you something the number can't.

Middle schools: where the story shifts

Elementary is where parents start the research. Middle school is where the pipeline gets real — and where some districts' advantages widen while others narrow.

The first surprise: La Cañada doesn't appear. La Canada Unified doesn't have a standalone middle school with separate middle-level composite data in our system. The district structures its grades differently — worth understanding if you're planning the full K-8 path.

South Pasadena takes the top spot

South Pasadena Middle is the highest-scoring middle school in this cluster at 84.2, which puts it 33rd in the state. It hits 58.0% exceeded, 81.3% meeting or exceeding standard, and a +1.4pp gap from grade 6 to grade 8. That's the strongest middle school on this list, in the district that spends the least per student.

Huntington Middle in San Marino follows at 80.6, ranked 56th. It has the highest met-plus-exceeded rate here (84.4%) and the highest exceeded rate (61.8%). Its grade 6 to grade 8 gap is −5.6pp — again, two different sets of students on the same day, and again a good question for a tour rather than a verdict.

Arcadia's middle schools sit behind its reputation

Arcadia Unified runs three conventional middle schools, all grades 6-8. Richard Henry Dana Middle is the best of them at 71.0, ranked 125th in the state — 13 points behind South Pasadena Middle. Foothills Middle follows at 66.6 and First Avenue Middle at 62.1, 227th. The three average 66.6.

The exceeded rates are where the distance shows: 44.4% at Dana and 38.6% at First Avenue, against 58.0% at South Pasadena Middle and 61.8% at Huntington. A fourth Arcadia school, Rancho Learning Center, carries a middle-level score of 45.5 — it's a K-12 alternative program, not a comprehensive middle school, so don't read it as your zoned option.

If you're moving to Arcadia for the full K-12 path, the middle years are the part to look at hardest. Visit all three before you commit to an address.

Glendale's gap widens

Glendale's three conventional middle schools average 43.3 — Woodrow Wilson at 46.7, Eleanor J. Toll at 45.6, and Theodore Roosevelt at 37.7. That's the lowest of any level in any district here. Absenteeism is the number that stands out: 13.9% to 17.9% across the three, against 3.2% to 8.2% at the middle schools in the other four districts.

Wilson does post a +8.1pp grade 6 to grade 8 gap, the widest here. It's one column pointing up on a school whose other numbers sit well below its neighbors.

High schools: where it all comes together

High school is the finish line parents are really thinking about when they choose a district. Here's where these five districts land.

La Cañada reclaims the top

Here's where the La Cañada reputation earns its keep. La Cañada High ranks 10th in the state with a Scope Score of 92.9. Its exceeded rate of 64.4% is the highest of any high school in this cluster, and not by a small margin — nearly two-thirds of 11th graders exceed the state standard. Graduation rate: 98.9%.

San Marino edges La Cañada at the elementary level. At high school La Cañada pulls ahead by 8 Scope Score points and about 15 points of exceeded rate. That's the single biggest reason its all-levels number leads the county.

San Marino, South Pasadena, Clark: three schools, six-tenths of a point

Here's the surprise in the high school data. San Marino High scores 84.8, South Pasadena Senior High 84.6, and Glendale's Clark Magnet High 84.2. Statewide that's 40th, 41st and 43rd. Three districts that differ in almost every other way, and their best high schools finish within six-tenths of a point.

They get there differently. San Marino's exceeded rate is 49.8% with absenteeism at 2.7%, the lowest high school figure here. South Pasadena's exceeded rate is higher at 55.2%, but 10.7% absenteeism and a 96.3% graduation rate bring its score back level. Clark is a magnet: it enrolls by application, not by address, so buying into its attendance area buys you nothing. Applications ran January 1-31 for 2026 entry.

Arcadia High sits below all three at 76.8, ranked 103rd, with a 37.9% exceeded rate. It does post a 99.1% graduation rate, the highest here. Arcadia keeps nearly everyone on track to the finish; it pushes fewer of them past the standard.

Glendale: one strong high school, and a very long tail

Clark's 84.2 is a genuinely strong result for a district whose elementary and middle averages trail everyone else here. Crescenta Valley High backs it up at 79.3, 80th in the state, serving the La Crescenta area at a level Glendale's central schools don't reach.

Then the floor drops out. Herbert Hoover High scores 56.6 and Glendale High 52.7, roughly 27 points below Crescenta Valley, with absenteeism of 19% and 23%. Four high schools, one district, and the one you're zoned for decides which set of numbers you get.

What each district spends per student

Here's something parents rarely see alongside school scores: what these districts spend per student in current operating expenses, from the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Survey of School System Finances, FY2023. That's the most recent year Census has published.

The spending range across these five districts is narrow — about $1,600 separates the highest from the lowest. South Pasadena spends the least per student at $15,308 and finishes third of the five on Scope Score, ahead of two districts that spend more.

Look at the other four. San Marino, La Cañada, Arcadia and Glendale all spend within about $330 of each other, and their scores run from 83.5 down to 50.1. For context, LAUSD spends $22,606 per student and Beverly Hills $29,437.

So current spending and test scores don't line up here. That's worth knowing when a realtor tells you a district's schools are strong because it's well funded — around this cluster, the budgets are close and the scores aren't. But five districts is five data points, and it doesn't show that money doesn't matter. Current operating spending is one year of one kind of cost. It says nothing about what a district spent a decade ago, what its buildings and reserves look like, what it costs to hire there, or how many students arrive needing more support. Any of those could be doing the work this table can't see.

What we'd tell a friend

If a friend asked "which SGV district should I move to for the full K-12 pipeline?" — here's what we'd say:

La Cañada has the strongest high school here by a clear margin. La Cañada High ranks 10th in the state at 92.9, eight points clear of the next school in this group. San Marino edges it at elementary. If you're buying for the last four years, this is the best data in the cluster.

San Marino is the steadiest from elementary through high school. 81.6 at elementary, 80.6 at its middle school, 84.8 at the high school — no level where it sags, and the lowest high school absenteeism here at 2.7%. With two elementary schools, you're not gambling on which one you get.

South Pasadena holds up further than the cheaper-option framing suggests. Marengo ranks 50th in the state. South Pasadena Middle is the highest-scoring middle school in this cluster, 33rd. Its high school lands within half a point of San Marino's, and the district spends the least per student of the five. It doesn't thin out at the top.

Arcadia is the district where the reputation and the data diverge most. It sits at 61.4 all levels, 18 points below South Pasadena, not the near-tie people assume. Its elementary schools range from 72.8 to 53.3, its best middle school is 125th in the state, and Arcadia High is 103rd. Which Arcadia school you're zoned for matters more than the fact that it's Arcadia. Check before you buy.

Glendale has a top-50 high school that rarely comes up in these conversations. Clark Magnet (43rd) and Crescenta Valley (80th) are genuinely strong. But Clark enrolls by application, 20 elementary schools average 49.7, and the three conventional middle schools average 43.3. Glendale is the district in this group where your specific school matters most — its elementary schools span 58 points.

What the data can't tell you: Which community feels right for your family. Whether your kid would thrive in a smaller district (San Marino, La Cañada) or a bigger one (Arcadia, Glendale). What the commute to your office looks like. And nothing at all about what any of this costs — we don't have housing data, and we're not going to guess at it in a post about test scores.

Test scores are one lens. We show this one clearly because we haven't found it surfaced this way elsewhere — but it's still just one lens.

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