How does Santa Barbara Senior High compare to other high schools in Santa Barbara?

Santa Barbara Senior High has a Scope Score of 53.8/100, ranked #819 among California high schools. 9% of students exceed standard, with a total of 827 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Santa Barbara Senior High?

9.5% of students at Santa Barbara Senior High exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 31.8% 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 Santa Barbara Senior High?

25.4% of students at Santa Barbara Senior 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 the Scope Score.

Santa Barbara Senior High

High School

Santa Barbara Unified Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara County93103

📍 700 East Anapamu Street

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,649 California high schools

🌱

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Scope 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

2,046 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

60%

Teachers

96 full-time

College & career readiness

Graduation Rate

96.8%

AP Exam Prepared

38.0%

A-G Completion

57.0%

College-Going Rate

79.6%

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

Dashboard indicators

How this school's scores changed from last year to this year

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+11.6 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+12.9 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

10.8%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 130 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic61.8%

White31.1%

Asian1.3%

Black0.7%

Other5.2%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Santa Barbara Senior High
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	9.5%
Met Standard	22.3%
Below Standard	68.2%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Graduation rate: 96.8%

9.4pp above state avg (state avg 87.4%)

25% weight

✓College readiness: 38.0%

AP exam pass rate above state avg (state avg 35.3%)

20% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 25.4%

8.9pp below state avg (state avg 34.3%)

10% weight

✓Suspension rate: 3.0%

1.1pp below state avg (state avg 4.1%)

5% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 9.5%

6.2pp below state avg (state avg 15.7%)

20% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 31.8%

3.0pp below state avg (state avg 34.8%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 31.8%

Below state baseline (state avg 34.8%)

5% weight

Unlike traditional school ratings, we show our work. Every factor, its weight, and how this school compares to the state average — so you can decide what matters most to your family. The high school Scope Score is weighted across 7 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "32% proficient" for Santa Barbara Senior High and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

9.5% of students exceeded standard while 22.3% met it. That exceeded rate is 6.2 points below the state average of 15.7%. That's 9.7 points below the Santa Barbara Unified district average of 19.2%. Compared to the 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 2.9 points higher (vs 6.6% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

The graduation rate is 96.8% — above the state target. 57.0% of students complete A-G requirements for UC/CSU eligibility — a strong college readiness signal. 79.6% of graduates go on to college within a year.

Chronic absenteeism is 25.4%, better than the state average of 34.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

9.5%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

31.8%

Students meeting standard

Chronic Absenteeism

25.4%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

3.0%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

827

Across all grades & subjects

ELA scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
11th	410	13.2%	31.7%	25.1%	30.0%	44.9%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
11th	417	5.8%	12.9%	24.2%	57.1%	18.7%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Adams Elementary

62.4# in state

Harding University Partnership

Also serves area

Washington Elementary

71.3# in state

Adams Elementary

62.4# in state

Harding University Partnership

55.9# in state

▼

Middle

Santa Barbara Junior High

29.9# in state

Also serves area

La Cumbre Junior High

48.4# in state

▼

High School

Santa Barbara Senior High

53.8# in state

This school

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