Summary:
Santa Paula Unified has two high schools, Santa Paula High and Renaissance High, and both serve grades 9–12. The clearest area-wide concern is mathematics: in 2025–26, even the stronger school, Santa Paula High, had 14% proficiency, 24 percentage points below the state’s 38%, while Renaissance High had 0%; the two-school average was 7%.
Santa Paula High led in all three subjects and on the reported graduation and attendance measures. Its 2025–26 proficiency was 39% in ELA, 14% in math and 31% in science, compared with 22%, 0% and 6% at Renaissance High—school-to-school gaps of 17, 14 and 25 percentage points, respectively. Graduation rates were 97% versus 85%, and chronic absenteeism was 21% versus 60%. Renaissance High nevertheless improved in ELA year over year, while its latest results remained below the state in every subject.
The schools’ trends differed: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, Santa Paula High fell 13 percentage points in ELA and 3 in math, but rose 10 in science; Renaissance High rose 16 points in ELA, stayed at 0% in math and increased slightly in science. SchoolDigger ranks Santa Paula High 1,324th of 2,137 high schools, in the 38th percentile with 2 stars, and Renaissance High 1,865th, in the 13th percentile with 1 star. For context, their 2024–25 student–teacher ratios were close: 21.4 and 22.2. That year, 84% of Santa Paula High students and 97% of Renaissance High students were free/reduced lunch eligible. Renaissance enrolls 113 students, so its rates may be sensitive to outcomes for a small number of students.
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