Best Public Schools in Walnut, CA

Walnut, California, has 11 schools: seven elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools; two elementary schools serve K–8, and the others serve K–5. Nine schools are in Walnut Valley Unified and two are in Rowland Unified. In 2025–26, 10 schools had reported proficiency results; the reported-school averages were 71% in ELA, 66% in math and 60% in science, compared with state results of 49%, 38% and 36%. The most important takeaway is that every school with reported results exceeded the state in all three subjects, although results differed considerably from school to school.

Leonard G. Westhoff Elementary led in ELA and math, at 81% in each subject, while South Pointe Middle led in science at 74%. Walnut High was close behind Westhoff in ELA at 80%; South Pointe followed Westhoff in math at 80%, and Westhoff followed South Pointe in science at 71%. At the lower end, Vejar Elementary had the lowest ELA result at 58%, while Ybarra Academy for the Arts and Technology had the lowest math and science results, at 44% and 42%. Even those low results were 8 points above the state in ELA, 6 in math and 6 in science.

Recent changes were mixed: the schools’ average ELA result was essentially flat, math edged down, and science rose by 3 points. Individual trends varied: Westhoff’s science result rose 11 points, while Vejar fell 9 points in ELA and 8 in math. SchoolDigger’s rankings also show different trajectories: Westhoff ranked 175th of 5,804 elementary schools, while South Pointe ranked 79th of 2,703 middle schools; from 2023–24 to 2025–26, Westhoff improved from rank 348 to 175, while Vejar slipped from 738 to 1,244. As context, free/reduced lunch eligible shares for 2024–25 ranged from 20% at Westhoff to 67% at Ybarra; Stanley G. Oswalt Academy was 57% and outscored Ybarra in most shared grades. Suzanne Middle and South Pointe also differ notably: South Pointe led in all-grades math by 15 points, while Suzanne led eighth-grade ELA by 3 points. Ron Hockwalt Academies has a reported 71% graduation rate and 48% chronic absenteeism; its test results are state-suppressed, so its proficiency cannot be compared.