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Best Public Schools in Alpine, CA

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its California rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

1,723

Students

Districts

Top rankedShadow Hills Elementary1586^th of 5,817 California elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Joan MacQueen Middle up 5 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Joan MacQueen Middle 18.9 students per teacher

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Summary:

Alpine has six schools—five elementary schools and one middle school—with enrollment ranging from 64 students at Mountain View Learning Academy to 405 at Joan MacQueen Middle. Test results are available for five schools in 2024–2025 and four in 2025–2026; Creekside Early Learning Center has no supplied test-score results. The clearest latest-year finding is that Shadow Hills Elementary led the tested schools in all three subjects, scoring 53% in ELA, 53% in math, and 53% in science—4, 15, and 17 percentage points above the state, respectively.

In 2024–2025, The Heights Charter led ELA at 61% and science at 47%, while Shadow Hills led math at 61%; SchoolDigger placed The Heights at the 80th statewide percentile that year. In the latest results, Boulder Oaks Elementary had the lowest science result, 22%, or 14 points below the state. Joan MacQueen had the lowest ELA and math results, 41% and 36%—8 and 2 points below the state. Results can also differ by grade: Mountain View’s all-grades math result was 46%, but its reported grade-6 result was 8%, compared with 37% statewide.

Recent changes are mixed: Shadow Hills’ ELA and math each fell 8 points from 2024–2025, while its science rose 11; Boulder Oaks’ science dropped 19 points, the largest decline among the four schools with results in both years. By contrast, Mountain View gained 5 points in ELA and 8 in math, and Joan MacQueen gained 4 in math and 6 in science. School context varies too: student-teacher ratios range from 18.9 at Joan MacQueen to 28.8 at The Heights. The schools’ free/reduced lunch eligible measure for 2024–2025 ranged from 13% at The Heights to 40% at Boulder Oaks; these are contextual figures, not explanations for test results.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				CAST Science (2026)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2026)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2026)							Vaccination (2024-25)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
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/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Vaccination: Kindergartners with all required immunizations	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
The Heights Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2710 Alpine Blvd. Ste. E	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	The Heights Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 792-9000	283	10	28.8	13.4%	232 (82.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.3%)	68.1	1681^st of 5817 public elementary schools	71.1%		79.7	1171^st of 5857 public elementary schools	80.0%	510	36.0	65.4	51.0	50.0	57.1	64.0	63.0	57.1	84.6	62.1	46.9	60.7	36.0	51.9	60.7	65.4	53.6	95%	2%
Joan MacQueen Middle	Public	6-8	2001 Tavern Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-3245	405	21	18.9	36.8%	204 (50.4%)	4 (1.0%)	125 (30.9%)	7 (1.7%)	14 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (11.6%)	46.2	1303^rd of 2740 public middle schools	52.4%		45.6	1308^th of 2761 public middle schools	52.6%	5		31.5	31.5				37.5	41.6	45.4	41.3				34.2	43.6	33.1	36.3			$26,546	$25,126	$1,420
Mountain View Learning Academy	Public	K-8	8770 Harbison Canyon Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 659-2854	64	3	21.3	39.1%	33 (51.6%)	5 (7.8%)	18 (28.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.7%)								(n/a)			41.7				33.3			43.9				8.3			46.3			$19,138	$18,356	$782
Shadow Hills Elementary	Public	K-5	8770 Harbison Canyon Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-2977	377	18	20.9	33.4%	158 (41.9%)	5 (1.3%)	161 (42.7%)	3 (0.8%)	10 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (10.3%)	70.1	1586^th of 5817 public elementary schools	72.7%		78	1242^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	78.8%	344	52.8		52.8	43.1	56.0	60.4				53.2	51.7	53.3	54.7				53.2			$21,667	$20,486	$1,181
Boulder Oaks Elementary	Public	1-5	2320 Tavern Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-8676	367	16	22.9	39.8%	214 (58.3%)	2 (0.5%)	92 (25.1%)	3 (0.8%)	17 (4.6%)	1 (0.3%)	37 (10.1%)	44.3	2967^th of 5817 public elementary schools	49.0%		57	2214^th of 5857 public elementary schools	62.2%	753	21.9		21.9	50.0	44.1	31.5				42.5	47.8	41.2	30.1				40.3			$25,474	$24,342	$1,132
Creekside Early Learning Center	Public	K	8818 Harbison Canyon Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 659-8250	227	10	22.7	33.9%	118 (52.0%)	0 (0.0%)	78 (34.4%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (11.5%)								(n/a)																		97%	0%	$32,901	$31,720	$1,181

Cities Near Alpine

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
El Cajon	4.32 mi	52	584^th
Descanso	8.53 mi	1	341^st
Lakeside	8.69 mi	15	356^th
Jamul	8.82 mi	4	554^th
Spring Valley	11.93 mi	16	520^th

See the top CA California cities

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.