Best Public Schools in Santa Ana, CA

Santa Ana’s city summary lists 78 schools—51 elementary, 9 middle, 16 high and 2 alternative—serving students across a range of grade levels and districts; the records provided here cover only some of those schools. The results vary widely: in 2025–26, the gap between the highest and lowest supplied school scores was 84 percentage points in English language arts (ELA), 92 in math and 80 in science. The most important finding for families is that a citywide impression would hide major differences between individual schools.

Tustin Memorial Elementary led the supplied schools in math and science, with 92% and 80% proficiency, and was close behind in ELA at 89%; Middle College High had the highest ELA result at 91%, alongside 62% in math and 79% in science. OCSA also scored well above state rates in all three subjects, at 85%, 70% and 74%. At the low end, Cesar E. Chavez High recorded 7% ELA, 0% math and 1% science, while Lorin Griset Academy recorded 8%, 0% and 4%. State rates were 49% in ELA, 38% in math and 36% in science.

Recent changes among 13 high schools were mixed: average all-grades math proficiency fell by about 1 percentage point from 2024–25 to 2025–26, ELA was nearly unchanged, and science rose by about 4 points. In 11th grade, average proficiency remained below state rates by 11 points in ELA, 10 in math and 13 in science. SchoolDigger rated Tustin Memorial in the 100th percentile with five stars, compared with Chavez in the 2nd percentile. Other measures add useful context, but don’t neatly predict results: Tustin Memorial’s student-teacher ratio was 27.8, while Advanced Learning Academy had a lower ratio of 11.6 and more moderate scores. For 2024–25, free/reduced lunch eligible figures were 23% at Tustin Memorial and 86% at Middle College, which nevertheless posted strong results; these are observations, not explanations. The records cover schools with different grade spans, so comparisons are not always like-for-like.