How does San Marin High compare to other high schools in Novato?

San Marin High has a SchoolScope composite score of 68.7/100, placing it at the 90th percentile statewide. 29% of students exceed standard, with a total of 538 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at San Marin High?

28.8% of students at San Marin High exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 52.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at San Marin High?

16.9% of students at San Marin High are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days). This metric reflects school culture and family engagement, and is weighted at 15% in our composite score.

San Marin High

High School

Novato Unified NovatoMarin County94945

📍 15 San Marin Drive

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of high schools

State Rank

of 1,739 California high schools

💪

Strong All-Around

Strong across every dimension we measure — academics, growth, culture, and engagement.

Composite scores are SchoolScope's analysis of public data from the California Dept. of Education (CAASPP, chronic absenteeism, suspension rates). They are not official CDE ratings and should not be the sole basis for school decisions. See methodology.

School overview

Enrollment

1,186 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

24%

Teachers

56 full-time

College & career readiness

Graduation Rate

98.0%

AP Exam Prepared

79.5%

A-G Completion

67.5%

College-Going Rate

85.9%

Data source: California Department of Education — ACGR, CCI, CGR reports

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+6.2 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Declined

-5.2 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

6.6%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 76 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic30.8%

White50.8%

Asian7.8%

Black1.1%

Other9.4%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for San Marin High
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	28.8%
Met Standard	23.2%
Below Standard	48.0%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "52% proficient" for San Marin High and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

28.8% of students exceeded standard while 23.2% met it. That exceeded rate is 13.3 points above the state average of 15.5%. That's 6.6 points above the Novato Unified district average of 22.2%. Compared to the 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 19.8 points higher (vs 9.0% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

The graduation rate is 98.0% — above the state target. 67.5% of students complete A-G requirements for UC/CSU eligibility — a strong college readiness signal. 85.9% of graduates go on to college within a year.

Chronic absenteeism is 16.9%, better than the state average of 34.0%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

28.8%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

52.0%

Students meeting standard

Chronic Absenteeism

16.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

1.2%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

538

Across all grades & subjects

ELA scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
11th	270	37.4%	29.3%	17.4%	15.9%	66.7%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
11th	268	20.1%	17.2%	23.5%	39.2%	37.3%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Pleasant Valley Elementary

▼

Middle

Sinaloa Middle

52.177th pctile

▼

High School

San Marin High

68.790th pctile

This school

Feeder patterns derived from 2015-16 NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries may have changed. Contact your school district for current information.