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Palo Alto High

Public Grades 9-12

88^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,162 California High Schools

Better than 96% of California high schools

Summary

Palo Alto High School (Paly) is a large, top-tier public high school serving about 1,900 students in grades 9-12 within the highly-ranked Palo Alto Unified district in Silicon Valley, consistently placing in the top 5% of all California high schools with a 98% graduation rate and academic proficiency far exceeding state averages.

While Paly is an exceptional school, it is often compared to its district sibling, Henry M. Gunn High, which consistently ranks slightly higher in state standings and test scores. The analysis also reveals a striking contrast with schools just a few miles away; for instance, Paly's per-student spending is significantly higher and its rate of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch is dramatically lower than those at schools in neighboring communities like East Palo Alto, highlighting considerable resource and outcome disparities within a small geographic area.

Interesting findings for parents include Paly's higher-than-expected chronic absenteeism rate compared to some local schools, a notable dip in science proficiency for 12th graders, and varying effectiveness across different student subgroups, though it has a historical strength in serving students with disabilities. Despite being among California's elite, Paly shows more performance volatility than Gunn, suggesting a focus on consistency and student well-being could further strengthen this already outstanding school.

1,891

Students ?

16.7

Student/teacher ratio ?

$30,046

Per pupil spending ?

13.3%

Free/discounted lunch ?

50 Embarcadero Rd.
Palo Alto, CA 94301-2321

(650) 329-3701

District: Palo Alto Unified

Feeder schools for Palo Alto High:

Elementary:	Addison Elementary
	Duveneck Elementary
	Escondido Elementary
	Walter Hays Elementary
Middle:	Frank S. Greene Junior Middle

Racial breakdown:

Asian:

37.5%

White:

31.4%

Hispanic:

15.2%

See top rated California high schools

Compare Palo Alto High to nearby high schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 98th percentile in 2015 → 96th in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (72% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 4% of California high schools

✓98% graduate in 4 years — above the California average (88%)

Worth a look

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school72%

District avg80%

California avg41%

88^th of 2,162

California public high schools ?

Top 4%▼ down 2 pts since 2015

See the entire ranking list of California High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

2^nd of 2High Schools in the Palo Alto Unified

41^st of 1,543Palo Alto Unified among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	95.4	88 of 2162	95.9%	★★★★★
2024	94.9	116 of 2159	94.6%	★★★★★
2023	93.3	156 of 2170	92.8%	★★★★★
2022	98.3	37 of 2123	98.3%	★★★★★
2021	97.0	31 of 1290	97.6%	★★★★★
2019	97.8	39 of 2133	98.2%	★★★★★
2018	94.8	89 of 2017	95.6%	★★★★★
2017	95.2	71 of 2021	96.5%	★★★★★
2016	97.1	30 of 2039	98.5%	★★★★★
2015	96.3	44 of 1994	97.8%	★★★★★
2013	85.2	75 of 2426	96.9%	★★★★★
2012	83.3	98 of 2354	95.8%	★★★★★
2011	83.3	98 of 2367	95.9%	★★★★★
2010	82.9	98 of 2281	95.7%	★★★★★
2009	83.5	67 of 2238	97.0%	★★★★★
2008	90.8	18 of 2117	99.1%	★★★★★
2007	92.0	19 of 2063	99.1%	★★★★★
2006	86.6	54 of 1968	97.3%	★★★★★
2005	90.2	26 of 1901	98.6%	★★★★★
2004	92.0	11 of 1653	99.3%	★★★★★

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	83.6	62 of 585	89.4%	★★★★☆
2024	84.9	66 of 573	88.5%	★★★★☆
2023	72.1	186 of 591	68.5%	★★★☆☆
2022	83.2	75 of 581	87.1%	★★★★☆
2019	89.6	29 of 582	95.0%	★★★★★
2018	81.7	94 of 581	83.8%	★★★★☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	99.1	17 of 1161	98.5%	★★★★★
2019	99.9	4 of 1117	99.6%	★★★★★

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	94.6	83 of 1906	95.6%	★★★★★
2024	95.4	77 of 1915	96.0%	★★★★★
2023	93.9	119 of 1915	93.8%	★★★★★
2022	98.2	27 of 1858	98.5%	★★★★★
2021	97.6	11 of 1054	99.0%	★★★★★
2019	97.5	35 of 1833	98.1%	★★★★★
2018	97.5	13 of 1760	99.3%	★★★★★

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	68.9	513 of 1900	73.0%	★★★★☆
2024	65.4	558 of 1902	70.7%	★★★★☆
2023	76.5	361 of 1917	81.2%	★★★★☆
2022	94.0	85 of 1861	95.4%	★★★★★
2019	86.0	172 of 1814	90.5%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	74.3	450 of 2013	77.6%	★★★★☆
2024	73.2	436 of 2026	78.5%	★★★★☆
2023	60.3	691 of 2030	66.0%	★★★☆☆
2022	82.4	236 of 1943	87.9%	★★★★☆
2021	87.8	109 of 1126	90.3%	★★★★★
2019	87.3	169 of 1937	91.3%	★★★★★

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	95.5	82 of 1942	95.8%	★★★★★
2024	93.9	124 of 1948	93.6%	★★★★★
2023	92.5	156 of 1963	92.1%	★★★★★
2022	97.7	56 of 1916	97.1%	★★★★★
2021	94.3	65 of 1122	94.2%	★★★★★
2019	97.4	52 of 1880	97.2%	★★★★★
2018	93.6	123 of 1834	93.3%	★★★★★

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	93.8	16 of 577	97.2%	★★★★★
2024	84.3	70 of 574	87.8%	★★★★☆
2023	82.7	82 of 541	84.8%	★★★★☆
2022	91.5	22 of 515	95.7%	★★★★★
2019	87.4	32 of 422	92.4%	★★★★★

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	76.2	176 of 1252	85.9%	★★★★☆
2024	76.3	186 of 1216	84.7%	★★★★☆
2023	83.1	119 of 1197	90.1%	★★★★★

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	90.7	64 of 1155	94.5%	★★★★★
2024	89.0	89 of 1173	92.4%	★★★★★
2023	82.7	185 of 1193	84.5%	★★★★☆
2022	91.8	64 of 1204	94.7%	★★★★★
2019	92.8	54 of 1222	95.6%	★★★★★
2018	84.2	154 of 1173	86.9%	★★★★☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Disabled (2022)99th percentile~ school

Multi-racial (2025)97th percentile~ school

Male (2025)96th percentile~ school

Female (2025)96th percentile~ school

White (2025)94th percentile~ school

Asian (2025)89th percentile-7 vs school

Special Education (2025)86th percentile-10 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)78th percentile-18 vs school

Hispanic (2025)73rd percentile-23 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy76%+27 vs state

Mathematics74%+36 vs state

Science67%+34 vs state

1.0

1 rating · 1 written review

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What people are saying

by a student
Monday, October 27, 2014

I am a student at Paly and I can confidently say that this school is crushing my spirit. But at least we have good test scores, right? Close Quote

Schools Near Palo Alto High

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)		Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 10th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Palo Alto High	Public	9-12	50 Embarcadero Rd.	Palo Alto	94301	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 329-3701	1,891	113	16.7	13.3%	594 (31.4%)	37 (2.0%)	287 (15.2%)	709 (37.5%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (1.5%)	233 (12.3%)	95.4	88^th of 2162 public high schools	95.9%		94.9	116^th of 2159 public high schools	94.6%	28	68.5		42.3	66.8	75.8	75.8	73.7	73.7	$30,046	$1,022	$29,024
Menlo-Atherton High	Public	9-12	555 Middlefield Rd.	Atherton	94027	San Mateo County	Sequoia Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 322-5311	2,158	120	17.9	33.0%	747 (34.6%)	69 (3.2%)	918 (42.5%)	180 (8.3%)	36 (1.7%)	96 (4.4%)	111 (5.1%)	87	264^th of 2162 public high schools	87.8%		90.7	207^th of 2159 public high schools	90.4%	57		52.6	7.1	51.2	69.3	69.3	50.9	50.9	$18,820	$876	$17,944
Oxford Day Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	763 Green St.	East Palo Alto	94303	San Mateo County	Oxford Day Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 260-3152	108	3	43.0	66.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	107 (99.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	17.5	1731^st of 2162 public high schools	19.9%		8.8	2129^th of 2159 public high schools	1.4%	398					11.8	11.8	12.5	12.5	$17,593	$3,788	$13,805
East Palo Alto Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	1050 Myrtle St.	East Palo Alto	94303	San Mateo County	East Palo Alto Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 893-8900	278	21	12.9	63.3%	2 (0.7%)	7 (2.5%)	251 (90.3%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.4%)	10 (3.6%)	3 (1.1%)	22.8	1632^nd of 2162 public high schools	24.5%		29.8	1494^th of 2159 public high schools	30.8%	138		8.6		9.3	39.4	39.4	4.3	4.3	$21,846	$2,547	$19,299
KIPP Esperanza High	Public, Charter	9-12	1039 Garden St.	East Palo Alto	94303	San Mateo County	KIPP Esperanza High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 528-1546	194	19	10.2	95.9%	1 (0.5%)	5 (2.6%)	185 (95.4%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52.8	973^rd of 2162 public high schools	55.0%		41.1	1220^th of 2159 public high schools	43.5%	247	20.6			21.6	47.5	47.5	32.5	32.5	$42,398	$2,676	$39,722
Henry M. Gunn High	Public	9-12	780 Arastradero Rd.	Palo Alto	94306	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 354-8200	1,643	100	16.4	11.7%	450 (27.4%)	20 (1.2%)	215 (13.1%)	765 (46.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	188 (11.4%)	97.6	42^nd of 2162 public high schools	98.1%		97.8	47^th of 2159 public high schools	97.8%	5	80.3		41.2	78.6	84.4	84.4	80.4	80.4	$30,704	$1,048	$29,656
Tide Academy	Public	9-12	150 Jefferson Dr.	Menlo Park	94025	San Mateo County	Sequoia Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 369-1411	212	22	9.4	40.1%	47 (22.2%)	5 (2.4%)	129 (60.8%)	11 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.3%)	13 (6.1%)	58.6	859^th of 2162 public high schools	60.3%		91.6	186^th of 2159 public high schools	91.4%	673		31.8		31.1	60.0	60.0	22.7	22.7	$34,306	$1,433	$32,873
Everest Public High	Public, Charter	9-12	455 Fifth Ave.	Redwood City	94063	San Mateo County	Everest Public High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 366-1050	224	12	18.4	81.7%	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	210 (93.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	7 (3.1%)	29.9	1486^th of 2162 public high schools	31.3%		28	1540^th of 2159 public high schools	28.7%	54			4.6	4.6	45.0	45.0	8.5	8.5	$17,111	$1,701	$15,410
Woodside High	Public	9-12	199 Churchill Ave.	Woodside	94062	San Mateo County	Sequoia Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 367-9750	1,660	101	16.3	28.7%	575 (34.6%)	19 (1.1%)	880 (53.0%)	88 (5.3%)	9 (0.5%)	8 (0.5%)	81 (4.9%)	76.5	469^th of 2162 public high schools	78.3%		81.3	390^th of 2159 public high schools	81.9%	79		46.7	7.1	45.1	58.8	58.8	40.6	40.6	$20,360	$992	$19,368
Los Altos High	Public	9-12	201 Almond Ave.	Los Altos	94022	Santa Clara County	Mountain View-Los Altos Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 940-8812	2,170	120	18.1	16.5%	630 (29.0%)	13 (0.6%)	607 (28.0%)	660 (30.4%)	4 (0.2%)	9 (0.4%)	226 (10.4%)	95.8	83^rd of 2162 public high schools	96.2%		95.8	92^nd of 2159 public high schools	95.7%	9			56.6	56.6	78.8	78.8	68.8	68.8	$32,915	$1,283	$31,632

Frequently Asked Questions about Palo Alto High

What district is Palo Alto High in?

Palo Alto Unified

Is Palo Alto High a good school?

Yes! Palo Alto High is one of the best high schools in the state. It ranks 88^th of 2162 California high schools.

What is the racial makeup of Palo Alto High?

Students at Palo Alto High are 37% Asian, 31% White, 15% Hispanic, 12% Two or more races, 2% African American, 2% Pacific Islander.

What schools feed into Palo Alto High?

Palo Alto High is fed by the following schools:

Elementary : Addison Elementary
Elementary : Duveneck Elementary
Elementary : Escondido Elementary
Elementary : Walter Hays Elementary
Middle : Frank S. Greene Junior Middle

How many students attend Palo Alto High?

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,891 students attended Palo Alto High.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.