Compare · high

Venice and Santa Monica High

Santa Monica High scores 89 and Venice 81 among California high schools we score (spring 2025 tests). Santa Monica High’s English (reading and writing) and math results are clearly higher.

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Biggest differences

What are the biggest differences?

The biggest difference in test results is in English. Santa Monica High has the highest share and Venice has the lowest.

Biggest difference

20points

in English. 83% of Santa Monica High students scored Proficient or Advanced. At Venice it was 63%.

Lowest absence

21in 100

students at Santa Monica High missed 10% or more of school days. It was 29 in 100 at Venice.

Low-income families

65%

of Venice’s students are from low-income families. At Santa Monica High it is 35%.

Each tile is read from the figures below, for the schools scored among California high schools. Chronic absence is the 2025–26 school year. Students from low-income families are students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, 2024–25.

Test results

How do their test results compare?

The dark part of each bar is students who scored Advanced. The light part is students who scored Proficient. The dashed line is California for the same grades.

English: Proficient or Advanced

Reading and writing

Venice63%Advanced: 35%
Santa Monica High83%Clearly aheadAdvanced: 52%, clearly ahead
California57%Advanced: 27%

Math: Proficient or Advanced

Share of students tested

Venice38%Advanced: 20%
Santa Monica High56%Clearly aheadAdvanced: 31%, clearly ahead
California32%Advanced: 16%

Grade 11, spring 2026. From spring 2026, the state calls its top two levels “Proficient or Advanced” (formerly “Met or Exceeded”). Source: California’s state tests (CAASPP), California Department of Education.

Year by year

How have their results changed?

Venice’s English results changed the most. In 2017, 69% of its students were in the state’s top two test levels. In 2026 it was 63%.

Share of students in the state’s top two test levels, 2017 to 2026

Grade 11. Each year is a different group of students.

English

Math

The lines break across the COVID years, when state testing was waived or optional. Each figure is our combination of the grades’ published results, weighted by students tested. Source: California’s state tests (CAASPP), California Department of Education.

Life at school

Do students show up and stay in class?

A shorter bar is better here. The dashed line is the average California high school we score.

Chronically absent

Students in 100 who missed 10% or more of school days

Venice29 in 100700 of 2,390 students
Santa Monica High21 in 100Clearly ahead546 of 2,618 students
Average school22 in 100

Suspended at least once

Share of students enrolled at any point in the year

Venice0.1%3 of 2,455 students
Santa Monica High1.8%47 of 2,641 students
Average school2.9%

2025–26 school year. Average school: the average California high school we score. Source: California Department of Education.

Culture, side by side

What do the school, its families and the records say?

A school’s words are its claims. The district’s survey and the staffing records are evidence.

MeasureVeniceSanta Monica High
LAUSD School Experience Survey, 2025–26The share of students, families and staff who agreed. The mark on each bar is the district.
Students: SafetyVenice67%LAUSD 65% · 2123 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Students: BelongingVenice62%LAUSD 61% · 2049 to 2110 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Students: Caring adultsVenice58%LAUSD 61% · 2019 to 2118 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Families: SafetyVenice84%LAUSD 81% · 432 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Families: BelongingVenice87%LAUSD 87% · 429 to 453 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Staff: SafetyVenice97%LAUSD 93% · 189 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
From the staffing records
Average years of teaching experience2024–25 school yearVenice11Santa Monica High12
Teachers in their first year2024–25 school yearVenice7%Santa Monica High8%
Show every subject in the survey
MeasureVeniceSanta Monica High
LAUSD School Experience Survey, 2025–26
Students: EngagementVenice61%LAUSD 61% · 2039 to 2063 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Students: High expectationsVenice63%LAUSD 68% · 2033 to 2058 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Students: Bullied 2 or more times in the past 30 daysLower is betterVenice11%LAUSD 10% · 2075 to 2092 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Families: Caring adultsVenice80%LAUSD 86% · 442 to 444 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Families: EngagementVenice79%LAUSD 83% · 442 to 454 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Families: High expectationsVenice92%LAUSD 89% · 428 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Families: Bullying reports taken seriouslyVenice66%LAUSD 78% · 437 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Staff: Caring adultsVenice84%LAUSD 83% · 186 to 200 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Staff: High expectationsVenice89%LAUSD 90% · 186 to 191 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file
Staff: Bullying called a mild or insignificant problemVenice83%LAUSD 81% · 192 answersSanta Monica HighNo survey on file

School statements are from each school’s own website on the date shown. A survey figure averages the questions on that subject: the share who agreed, or for student bullying the share it happened to. Teacher records are from the California Department of Education. Nothing here is about a named person.

Who attends

Who attends, and how big are they?

The table shows how many students each school has and how many are from low-income families.

MeasureVeniceSanta Monica High
StudentsFederal school directory, 2024–25Venice2,293Santa Monica High2,588
Students from low-income familiesEligible for free or reduced-price meals, 2024–25. California: 63%Venice65%1,484 of 2,293 studentsSanta Monica High35%916 of 2,588 students
Students per teacherA staffing ratio, not class sizeVenice21Santa Monica High20
Show grades and who runs each school
MeasureVeniceSanta Monica High
GradesVenice9–12Santa Monica High9–12
Who runs the schoolVeniceLos Angeles UnifiedSanta Monica HighSanta Monica-Malibu Unified
Open Venice →Open Santa Monica High →

Sources

Sources and definitions

75 is the typical California school. 100 is the best result in the state. How we score schools

Test results are from California’s state tests (CAASPP), spring 2026. Each figure is the share of students tested in the level’s grades who scored Proficient or Advanced, for one subject. California’s figure is our combination of the state’s published rows for the same grades.

“Clearly ahead” marks a figure that is ahead of the others by more than twice the margin of error. On chronic absence, ahead means lower.

Chronic absence and suspensions are the California Department of Education’s 2025–26 counts. “Chronically absent” means a student missed 10% or more of school days. The average school is the average California school we score at these schools’ level, with each school counted once.

The year-by-year chart shows each spring’s results for grade 11. Each year is a different group of students, so the chart does not show how the same students changed.

Students and students per teacher are from the federal school directory, 2024–25. Students from low-income families are students counted as eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the California Department of Education’s 2024–25 count.

Teacher experience is the California Department of Education’s staffing file for the school year shown (teachers only).