Summary:
Bear Valley Unified has two high schools serving grades 9–12 at Big Bear High (630 students) and grades 8–12 at Chautauqua High (Continuation) (33 students). The area’s most important contrast is that Big Bear’s 2025–2026 proficiency was above the state in English language arts (ELA) and science, while Chautauqua reported 0% in all three subjects.
Big Bear High stood out at the top: its all-grades results were 69% in ELA, 33% in math and 52% in science, leading Chautauqua High (Continuation) by 69, 33 and 52 percentage points, respectively. Big Bear was 20 points above the state in ELA and 16 points above in science, but 5 points below in math. For the direct 11th-grade comparison, Big Bear was above state results by 12 points in ELA, 1 point in math and 13 points in science; Chautauqua’s 11th-grade results were 0% in each. Chautauqua’s all-grades results were 49 points below the state in ELA, 38 points below in math and 36 points below in science.
Results improved at Big Bear from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: ELA rose 11 points, math 5 points and science 18 points. Chautauqua remained at 0% in ELA and math, while science fell 17 points to 0%. SchoolDigger ranks Big Bear 487th of 2,137 schools, at the 77th percentile with four stars; Chautauqua ranks 2,130th, at the 0th percentile with zero stars. Other outcomes add context: graduation was 91% at Big Bear and 68% at Chautauqua, while chronic absenteeism was 30% and 96%, respectively, compared with 18% statewide. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible was 66% at Big Bear and 85% at Chautauqua; student-teacher ratios were 18.6 and 39.2. Since the schools serve different grade spans, 11th-grade results are the fairest direct comparison; 12th-grade science results are suppressed.
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