Best Public Schools in Novato, CA

Summary:

Novato, California is served by 15 public schools across the Novato Unified and Novato Charter District, educating roughly 7,300 students from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, with performance varying significantly across the city.

The district features standout schools like Pleasant Valley Elementary, which has the highest test scores, and San Marin High, the top-ranked high school with a 98% graduation rate. In contrast, Marin Oaks High and Hamilton Tk-8 face considerable academic challenges. The independently run Novato Charter is a high performer with notably lower per-student spending.

Key factors for parents to consider include chronic absenteeism, which is very low at top schools but high at struggling ones, and the wide range in per-student funding, which does not directly correlate with higher test scores. The two main high schools, Novato High and San Marin High, show a notable performance gap despite similar resources, highlighting the disparities within the same district.

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CSA Spanish Overall (2025)				CSA Spanish Listening (2025)				CSA Spanish Writing (2025)				CSA Spanish Reading (2025)				CAST Science (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)								Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)								% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Hepatitis B (2022)	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	CSA Spanish Overall 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall All Grades	CSA Spanish Listening 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening All Grades	CSA Spanish Writing 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing All Grades	CSA Spanish Reading 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading All Grades	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 12th 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 11th 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 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Hepatitis B KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Novato Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	940 C St.	Novato	94949	Marin County	Novato Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 883-4254	269	14	19.7	16.0%	176 (65.4%)	2 (0.7%)	39 (14.5%)	15 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	36 (13.4%)	75.7	1346^th of 5857 public elementary schools	77.0%		69.6	1611^th of 5869 public elementary schools	72.6%	265																	57.1	47.8		52.9	46.2	67.9	82.1	59.3	74.1	73.9		67.3	53.9	46.4	46.4	51.9	70.4	65.2		55.4	89.8	93.9	$13,855	$173	$13,682
Hamilton Tk-8	Public	K-8	5530 Nave Dr.	Novato	94949	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 883-4691	544	26	21.1	82.0%	54 (9.9%)	22 (4.0%)	412 (75.7%)	24 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (5.7%)	22.4	4637^th of 5857 public elementary schools	20.8%		26.5	4250^th of 5869 public elementary schools	27.6%	387																	20.3	29.6		24.8	30.9	26.9	29.8	31.3	42.4	33.3		32.6	33.9	20.8	15.3	16.7	27.1	22.2		22.8			$26,063	$2,425	$23,638
Loma Verde Elementary	Public	K-5	399 Alameda de La Loma	Novato	94949	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 883-4681	426	19	22.4	53.1%	134 (31.5%)	12 (2.8%)	208 (48.8%)	21 (4.9%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	47 (11.0%)	54.4	2344^th of 5857 public elementary schools	60.0%		66.9	1734^th of 5869 public elementary schools	70.5%	610																	31.3			31.3	37.9	52.1	48.8					47.0	48.3	44.4	41.7					44.4			$26,165	$2,636	$23,529
Lu Sutton Elementary	Public	K-5	1800 Center Rd.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-3196	367	17	21.5		83 (22.6%)	7 (1.9%)	251 (68.4%)	6 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.4%)	36	3489^th of 5857 public elementary schools	40.4%		38.9	3239^th of 5869 public elementary schools	44.8%	250																	18.8			18.8	36.1	43.3	43.8					40.9	40.6	32.4	16.7					31.2			$27,732	$3,367	$24,365
Lynwood Elementary	Public	K-5	1320 Lynwood Dr.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-4161	260	12	21.6	59.2%	50 (19.2%)	2 (0.8%)	190 (73.1%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.8%)	41.4	3122^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	46.7%		34.6	3555^th of 5869 public elementary schools	39.4%	433	8.6	12.5	5.7	9.1	31.4	22.5	22.9	25.5	14.3	32.5	8.6	19.1	0.0	12.5	2.9	5.5	28.6			28.6	22.9	42.5	42.9					36.4	31.4	47.5	37.1					39.1			$28,690	$2,676	$26,014
Marin Oaks High	Public	9-12	720 Diablo Ave.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-7653	69	7	9.2	82.6%	15 (21.7%)	4 (5.8%)	47 (68.1%)	1 (1.4%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	10.5	1991^st of 2162 public high schools	7.9%		19.1	1717^th of 2159 public high schools	20.5%	274																			0.0	0.0							8.3	8.3							2.8	2.8			$38,212	$4,098	$34,114
Novato High	Public	9-12	625 Arthur St.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 898-2125	1,287	65	19.7	48.3%	452 (35.1%)	30 (2.3%)	634 (49.3%)	72 (5.6%)	9 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	70 (5.4%)	62.5	747^th of 2162 public high schools	65.4%		66.4	627^th of 2159 public high schools	71.0%	120																			18.6	18.6							55.7	55.7							35.4	35.4			$25,571	$2,028	$23,543
Olive Elementary	Public	K-5	620 Olive Ave.	Novato	94945	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-2131	364	17	21.3	49.5%	144 (39.6%)	10 (2.7%)	153 (42.0%)	10 (2.7%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	44 (12.1%)	54.3	2349^th of 5857 public elementary schools	59.9%		66.4	1762^nd of 5869 public elementary schools	70.0%	587																	40.0			40.0	39.6	54.6	52.5					49.7	31.3	45.5	35.0					37.9			$26,655	$2,844	$23,811
Pleasant Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	755 Sutro Ave.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-5104	464	20	23.2	20.5%	288 (62.1%)	1 (0.2%)	105 (22.6%)	9 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	60 (12.9%)	87.8	786^th of 5857 public elementary schools	86.6%		78.6	1217^th of 5869 public elementary schools	79.3%	431																	51.3			51.3	72.1	62.7	79.0					71.8	73.5	58.2	67.5					66.5	96.5		$25,003	$2,215	$22,788
Rancho Elementary	Public	K-5	1430 Johnson St.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-3101	387	17	22.7	49.1%	153 (39.5%)	5 (1.3%)	178 (46.0%)	17 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	33 (8.5%)	69.5	1621^st of 5857 public elementary schools	72.3%		80.2	1145^th of 5869 public elementary schools	80.5%	476																	38.0			38.0	57.4	56.9	50.0					54.4	66.2	55.2	45.6					55.1			$25,692	$2,902	$22,790
San Marin High	Public	9-12	15 San Marin Dr.	Novato	94945	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 898-2121	1,250	57	21.9	35.7%	615 (49.2%)	11 (0.9%)	400 (32.0%)	104 (8.3%)	7 (0.6%)	3 (0.2%)	109 (8.7%)	83.1	357^th of 2162 public high schools	83.5%		84.7	331^st of 2159 public high schools	84.7%	26																			46.3	46.3							66.7	66.7							37.3	37.3			$25,560	$1,955	$23,605
San Ramon Elementary	Public	K-5	45 San Ramon Way	Novato	94945	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-1196	456	21	22.1	30.5%	241 (52.9%)	11 (2.4%)	114 (25.0%)	27 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (13.6%)	84	964^th of 5857 public elementary schools	83.5%		87	865^th of 5869 public elementary schools	85.3%	99																	53.3			53.3	70.3	67.6	65.8					67.9	62.2	63.4	52.6					59.3			$26,018	$2,171	$23,847
Sinaloa Middle	Public	6-8	2045 Vineyard Rd.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-2111	693	34	20.4	42.1%	343 (49.5%)	13 (1.9%)	239 (34.5%)	40 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (8.1%)	74.7	589^th of 2761 public middle schools	78.7%		77.4	541^st of 2783 public middle schools	80.6%	48																		43.1		43.1				67.0	55.6	59.7		60.4				48.8	40.2	51.1		46.5			$24,859	$1,983	$22,876
Nova Education Center	Public, Alternative	K-12	720 Diablo Blvd.	Novato	94947	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-7653	73	5	14.7	32.9%	33 (45.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (26.0%)	7 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (16.4%)								(n/a)																			40.9	41.4							56.5	53.7							13.0	24.4			$28,702	$1,888	$26,814
San Jose Middle	Public	6-8	1000 Sunset Pkwy.	Novato	94949	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 883-7831	559	26	21.2	55.8%	157 (28.1%)	16 (2.9%)	311 (55.6%)	36 (6.4%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	36 (6.4%)	54.4	1060^th of 2761 public middle schools	61.6%		56.8	966^th of 2783 public middle schools	65.3%	94				8.3				16.7				25.0				8.3		32.6		32.6				46.5	41.2	50.0		45.9				48.8	41.6	25.5		38.2			$26,387	$2,299	$24,088

Cities Near Novato

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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.

Diagnostics
u-SD2L3_06__Novato___3_13_011110011__ retrieved from Database in 1592 milliseconds.

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