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Best Public Schools in Poway, 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

20,823

Students

Districts

5-star school

Top rankedTierra Bonita Elementary416^th of 5,804 California elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Valley Elementary up 850 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Abraxas Continuation High 9.7 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

3 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

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Summary:

Poway has 13 listed schools—seven elementary, two middle, two high and two alternative schools—with current-year test results available for 10. Those 10 schools’ average proficiency rates in 2025–2026 were 65% in English Language Arts (ELA), 57% in math and 55% in science, compared with state averages of 49%, 38% and 36%. One caveat: alternative-school results are from 2024–2025, and Abraxas Continuation High’s test results are suppressed. The clearest overall finding is that all 10 schools with 2025–2026 results exceeded the state average in all three subjects, though results vary substantially by school.

Tierra Bonita Elementary stands out, leading the 10 schools in ELA, math and science at 74%, 75% and 80%—about 25, 36 and 44 percentage points above the state, respectively. The lowest ELA result was at Valley Elementary (54%), still 5 points above state; the lowest math and science results were at Twin Peaks Middle (44% in each), 6 and 8 points above state. Within the middle-school pair, Meadowbrook Middle leads Twin Peaks in ELA, math and science. Among the alternatives, Cabrillo Point Academy leads in ELA and math, while Pacific Coast Academy leads in science.

Recent changes are mixed: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, the 10-school average fell by about 1 percentage point in both ELA and math, but rose by 8 points in science. The science gain was especially large at Valley, from 26% to 60%, and Pomerado Elementary, from 31% to 54%; other schools declined in some subjects. SchoolDigger’s rankings also rose for Valley, from the 60th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 72nd in 2025–2026, and for Pomerado, from the 76th to the 82nd. As context, free/reduced lunch eligibility in 2024–2025 was 8.2% at Tierra Bonita and 7.5% at Painted Rock Elementary, despite their different results; this measure does not provide a simple explanation for school performance.

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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 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	Vaccination: Kindergartners with all required immunizations	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Pacific Coast Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	13915 Danielson St. #103	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Pacific Coast Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 215-0704	6,760	191	35.4	38.3%	3,571 (52.8%)	95 (1.4%)	2,099 (31.1%)	284 (4.2%)	32 (0.5%)	18 (0.3%)	657 (9.7%)								(n/a)																					25%	0%
Cabrillo Point Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	13915 Danielson St. Ste 200	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Cabrillo Point Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 404-3190	5,706	179	31.9	32.4%	2,929 (51.3%)	88 (1.5%)	1,669 (29.2%)	431 (7.6%)	20 (0.4%)	20 (0.4%)	543 (9.5%)								(n/a)																					23%	0%
Abraxas Continuation High	Public	9-12	12450 Glenoak Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-5900	216	22	9.7	39.4%	79 (36.6%)	8 (3.7%)	70 (32.4%)	33 (15.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (11.1%)								(n/a)																							$77,866	$71,868	$5,998
Chaparral Elementary	Public	K-5	17250 Tannin Dr.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 485-0042	858	36	23.7	10.3%	422 (49.2%)	8 (0.9%)	116 (13.5%)	201 (23.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	110 (12.8%)	90.7	603^rd of 5804 public elementary schools	89.6%		89.9	663^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	88.7%	60	58.6			58.6	73.2	80.5	69.1					74.1	68.5	84.4	60.4					70.8	98%	0%	$23,250	$22,844	$406
Garden Road Elementary	Public	K-5	14614 Garden Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-0230	508	24	20.9	19.9%	235 (46.3%)	6 (1.2%)	121 (23.8%)	71 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	71 (14.0%)	75.6	1344^th of 5804 public elementary schools	76.8%		77	1284^th of 5857 public elementary schools	78.1%	60	47.1			47.1	63.6	62.1	59.3					61.5	71.2	61.4	36.1					55.0	≥ 98%		$28,333	$27,804	$529
Meadowbrook Middle	Public	6-8	12320 Meadowbrook Ln.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-0802	972	46	21.2	24.6%	353 (36.3%)	22 (2.3%)	292 (30.0%)	192 (19.8%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	109 (11.2%)	77.8	509^th of 2703 public middle schools	81.2%		76.1	561^st of 2761 public middle schools	79.7%	52		50.5		50.5				64.5	66.8	64.5		65.2				44.5	51.8	43.4		46.4			$21,559	$21,180	$379
Midland Elementary	Public	K-5	13910 Midland Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-0047	580	27	21.7	31.2%	271 (46.7%)	5 (0.9%)	182 (31.4%)	43 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	78 (13.4%)	76.5	1294^th of 5804 public elementary schools	77.7%		82.6	1043^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	82.2%	251	48.1			48.1	56.2	64.0	63.1					61.5	60.3	55.1	49.5					54.3	92%	2%	$23,901	$23,330	$571
Painted Rock Elementary	Public	K-5	16711 Martincoit Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 487-1180	613	27	22.5	7.5%	384 (62.6%)	4 (0.7%)	96 (15.7%)	61 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	65 (10.6%)	86.9	803^rd of 5804 public elementary schools	86.2%		89.6	685^th of 5857 public elementary schools	88.3%	118	50.6			50.6	68.1	65.0	69.1					67.4	77.7	69.8	54.7					68.4	97%	0%	$23,283	$22,864	$419
Pomerado Elementary	Public	K-5	12321 Ninth St.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-1320	305	15	20.0	31.5%	115 (37.7%)	3 (1.0%)	104 (34.1%)	48 (15.7%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	31 (10.2%)	81.3	1073^rd of 5804 public elementary schools	81.5%		73.6	1442^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	75.4%	369	54.0			54.0	54.4	69.1	73.0					66.2	60.0	55.8	54.0					56.3	93%	0%	$33,627	$32,560	$1,067
Poway High	Public	9-12	15500 Espola Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-0245	2,101	97	21.5	21.8%	1,067 (50.8%)	23 (1.1%)	628 (29.9%)	150 (7.1%)	3 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	227 (10.8%)	82.4	352^nd of 2137 public high schools	83.5%		87.8	251^st of 2162 public high schools	88.4%	101			53.1	53.1							59.5	59.5							47.6	47.6			$21,410	$21,074	$336
Tierra Bonita Elementary	Public	K-5	14678 Tierra Bonita Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-8540	377	17	22.8	8.2%	224 (59.4%)	4 (1.1%)	72 (19.1%)	22 (5.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (13.8%)	93.8	416^th of 5804 public elementary schools	92.8%		95	329^th of 5857 public elementary schools	94.4%	87	79.8			79.8	69.6	69.7	81.0					74.1	69.6	75.8	77.2					74.6	97%	0%	$28,034	$27,622	$412
Twin Peaks Middle	Public	6-8	14640 Tierra Bonita Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-5131	1,164	54	21.4	18.4%	643 (55.2%)	12 (1.0%)	282 (24.2%)	89 (7.6%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	132 (11.3%)	72.2	624^th of 2703 public middle schools	76.9%		71.2	649^th of 2761 public middle schools	76.5%	25		44.0		44.0				61.0	65.7	56.7		61.2				42.7	48.4	42.0		44.3			$22,380	$22,026	$354
Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	13000 Bowron Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-2007	663	30	21.9	37.3%	171 (25.8%)	11 (1.7%)	390 (58.8%)	39 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	51 (7.7%)	69.2	1615^th of 5804 public elementary schools	72.2%		52.5	2465^th of 5857 public elementary schools	57.9%	850	60.2			60.2	50.5	52.6	60.2					54.4	48.5	46.4	51.0					48.7	≥ 99%		$22,602	$21,712	$890

Cities Near Poway

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
San Diego	2 mi	330	347^th
Ramona	5.8 mi	11	421^st
Escondido	6.5 mi	47	455^th
Lakeside	8.07 mi	15	392^nd
Santee	8.36 mi	12	155^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.