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Santa Monica High

High School
Composite Score
out of 100
State Percentile
of high schools
State Rank
of 1,739 California high schools

School overview

Enrollment
2,573 students
Student-Teacher Ratio
19:1
Free/Reduced Lunch
31%
Teachers
135 full-time

College & career readiness

Graduation Rate
98.9%
AP Exam Prepared
86.6%
A-G Completion
64.7%
College-Going Rate
81.6%

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

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year
Increased
+3.0 pts DFS change
Math Year-over-Year
Increased
+11.1 pts DFS change
EL Proficiency (ELPAC)
32.0%
English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 75 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic35.1%
White40.9%
Asian5.9%
Black6.8%
Other11.4%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Santa Monica High
CategoryPercentage
Exceeded Standard46.3%
Met Standard23.6%
Below Standard30.1%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "70% proficient" for Santa Monica High and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

46.3% of students exceeded standard while 23.6% merely met it. That exceeded rate is 30.8 points above the state average of 15.5%. That's 9.3 points above the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified district average of 37.0%. Compared to the 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 31.8 points higher (vs 14.6% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" is the difference between a school that clears the bar and one that raises it.

The graduation rate is 98.9% — above the state target. 64.7% of students complete A-G requirements for UC/CSU eligibility — a strong college readiness signal. 81.6% of graduates go on to college within a year.

Chronic absenteeism is 20.5%, better than the state average of 34.0%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard
46.3%
Students scoring above proficient
% Met or Above
69.9%
Students meeting standard
Chronic Absenteeism
20.5%
Students missing 10%+ of days
Suspension Rate
1.4%
Students suspended at least once
Total Tested
1,190
Across all grades & subjects

ELA scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
11th59957.8%25.5%9.8%6.8%83.3%

Math scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
11th59134.9%21.7%20.0%23.5%56.5%
K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

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

Data source: California Department of Education (2025 test year) · How we score