Summary:
Gonzales High is the only high school listed in Gonzales Unified, serving grades 9–12 with 751 students. With just one school, there is no campus-to-campus comparison. In 2025–2026, graduation was 96%, compared with 88% statewide, and dropout was 2%, versus 8% statewide; chronic absenteeism was higher, at 21% versus 18%. The key academic finding is that the school’s average across ELA, math, and science moved from well below the state average in 2024–2025 to essentially level in 2025–2026.
Within the school’s 2025–2026 all-grades results, ELA was its strongest subject relative to California: 52%, or 2 percentage points above the state’s 49%. Science was 38%, 2 points above the state’s 36%, while math was 35%, 3 points below the state’s 38%, making it the clearest area to watch. The school was above the district figures in all three subjects: by 11 points in ELA, 7 in math, and 11 in science. Grade 11 results show a different pattern in ELA and math: ELA was 6 points below the state, while math was 3 points above it.
Proficiency rose in all three subjects from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: ELA gained 8 percentage points, math 17, and science 18, while the state figures rose by 0, 1, and 3 points, respectively. The school’s three-subject average was about 42%, compared with 41% statewide; the reported 0.29-point advantage rounds to 0 points, so the averages are effectively level. SchoolDigger’s ranking also improved, from the 33rd percentile in 2023–2024 to the 64th in 2025–2026, and its star rating rose from 2 to 3 between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026. Context figures include a student-teacher ratio of 19.7 and 84% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025.
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