Best Public Schools in Avenal, CA

Avenal has six schools: two elementary schools, one middle school and three high schools. Four have reported 2025–26 test results: Avenal High, Avenal Elementary, Reef-Sunset Middle and Tamarack Elementary. Their average proficiency was about 20% in English, 9% in math and 9% in science, compared with California averages of 49%, 38% and 36%. The central finding is that all four reported-score schools were well below state rates in every tested subject, with average gaps of about 29 points in English, 29 in math and 27 in science.

Avenal High stands out in English and science among the four: about 35% were proficient in English and 14% in science, the highest results in the group, though both remained below state rates. It had the lowest math result, about 5%. Avenal Elementary led all-grades math at about 12%; it also edged Tamarack Elementary in English and science. Tamarack had the group’s lowest English and science results, about 13% and 4%. SchoolDigger ranks the four schools from the 24th percentile for Avenal High to the 1st percentile for Tamarack, with Reef-Sunset Middle at the 4th and Avenal Elementary at the 3rd. Avenal High also has the strongest reported completion and attendance measures: its graduation rate was 99%, dropout rate 0% and chronic absenteeism 12%. By contrast, Sunrise Continuation High reported 74% graduation, 26% dropout and 58% chronic absenteeism. Sunrise and Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day have no reported 2025–26 test-score percentages, so they cannot be ranked on current test results.

Across the four schools, average test results declined from 2024–25 to 2025–26: English was nearly unchanged, while math and science each fell by about 2 points; state averages rose in all three subjects. Individual trends varied: Tamarack improved in English and math but fell in science, while Avenal High gained in science and declined in math. Grade-level results also complicate the elementary comparison: Tamarack led in grade 3 English and math, while Avenal led in grades 4 and 5 in both subjects. Class-size context does not neatly track results: the four schools’ student-teacher ratios ranged from 20.7 to 25.6, and the highest ratio was at Avenal High. Their 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible figures were all between 95% and 96%. Sunrise reported 42.9% directly certified for free meals in 2024–25 and is marked as likely serving all students free meals through Community Eligibility; Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day reported 50.0% directly certified for free meals in 2023–24 and is also marked as likely serving all students free meals through Community Eligibility.