Summary:
Eureka City Schools has two high schools: Eureka Senior High, serving grades 9–12 with 1,162 students, and Zoe Barnum High, serving grades 10–12 with 67 students. In 2025–2026, the schools differed sharply in test scores and graduation outcomes, and their combined average was below the state in all three tested subjects. The clearest distinction is that Eureka led Zoe Barnum in every latest all-grades subject, while Zoe Barnum fell well below state rates in all three.
Eureka Senior High stands out for stronger test results and graduation: its ELA, math and science proficiency rates were 51%, 23% and 34%, compared with 9%, 0% and 4% at Zoe Barnum High. The gaps were 42 percentage points in ELA, 23 in math and 30 in science. Eureka’s graduation rate was 99%, versus 70% at Zoe Barnum; its dropout rate was 1%, versus 15%. However, chronic absenteeism was high at both schools: 22% at Eureka and 88% at Zoe Barnum, compared with 18% statewide. SchoolDigger ranks Eureka 904 of 2,137 schools, at the 58th percentile with 3 stars; Zoe Barnum ranks 1,887, at the 12th percentile with 1 star.
Recent test-score changes show Eureka improving in math and science, while Zoe Barnum’s results were mixed: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Eureka’s scores rose 2 points in math and 7 in science, while its ELA result was essentially unchanged; Zoe Barnum’s ELA fell 1 point, math fell 3, and science was essentially unchanged. Across the two schools, the average state gap widened in ELA and math but narrowed slightly in science. School context also differs: Eureka’s student-teacher ratio is 19.2, compared with 10.7 at Zoe Barnum, and its reported spending is $22,657 per student versus $31,760. Both report free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–2025: 51% at Eureka and 81% at Zoe Barnum. These figures describe two schools with different grade spans and enrollment sizes, and do not show that any one factor explains the results.
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