Yerba Buena High: High scores, healthy climate, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Yerba Buena posts 18.6% exceeding the standard — versus 15.8% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Grad rate | College readiness | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 56 | 19% | 42% | 94.5% | 90.9% | 19.4% | 3.2% |
| CA average · High School | 44 | 16% | 36% | 87.6% | 35.4% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
Yerba Buena High scores 56 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 78th percentile of 2,160 California high schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “42% proficient” and call it done. Yerba Buena deserves a closer read. The school sits in San Jose, where three in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Yerba Buena's low-income kids hit 51.5% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 78th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 42% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 55% | 54% | 51% | 55% | 55% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 30% | 31% | 29% | 27% | 30% |
The story this school is actually telling
Of 100 students here: 42 are proficient by 11th grade → 95 graduate → 91 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
Yerba Buena's most underrated number
51.5% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 7 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At Yerba Buena High in San Jose, 51.5% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 51.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Yerba Buena High outperforms its district average for low-income students by 0.5 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (25.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (38.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 45.1 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 305 students tested.
5 of 15 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below is estimated from nearby schools in the same district — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$388 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
On the state's science test (CAST), 29% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Yerba Buena High a good high school?
What are Yerba Buena High's CAASPP test scores?
How does Yerba Buena High rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Yerba Buena High?
How does Yerba Buena High compare to other schools in San Jose?
How does Yerba Buena High serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 62
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 67
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 402 | 24% | 31% | 22% | 23% | 55% | +8 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 406 | 13% | 17% | 24% | 47% | 30% | +6 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 443 | 5% | 24% | 60% | 11% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 305 | 51.5% | +0 | +13 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 188 | 38.3% | +1 | −1 |
| Asian | 178 | 71.3% | −9 | −3 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yerba Buena High ← | — | 56 | 18.6% | 42.3% | — | 3.2% |
| University Preparatory Academy Charter | 2.4 mi | 79 | 48.7% | 74.6% | — | 3.8% |
| Silver Creek High | 2.5 mi | 60 | 28.4% | 56.0% | — | 1.8% |
| Mt. Pleasant High | 2.7 mi | 46 | 9.6% | 32.0% | — | 3.8% |
| California average | — | 44 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 60 | 81 | #391 | 16.6% | 42.9% | 14.6% | 2.8% | — |
| 2022 | 59 | 84 | #339 | 19.3% | 42.5% | 21.0% | 2.6% | — |
| 2023 | 56 | 80 | #440 | 15.4% | 39.9% | 25.7% | 4.9% | — |
| 2024 | 57 | 80 | #423 | 17.3% | 41.0% | 23.9% | 5.0% | — |
| 2025 | 56 | 78 | #469 | 18.6% | 42.3% | 19.4% | 3.2% | — |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 15.3% | 19.3% | +4.0pp |
| Male | 13.2% | 18.6% | +5.4pp |
| Asian | 3.7% | 5.5% | +1.8pp |
| Black/African American | 47.6% | 30.4% | -17.2pp |
| White | 10.2% | 7.4% | -2.8pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 22.0% | 29.8% | +7.8pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 27.3% | 34.3% | +7.0pp |
| English Learners | 22.7% | 30.5% | +7.8pp |
| Homeless | 38.9% | 29.9% | -9.0pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 14.5% | 21.1% | +6.6pp |
| All Students | 14.1% | 18.9% | +4.8pp |
| Two or More Races | — | 14.3% | — |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction