High Schools in Novato Unified

This comparison covers four high schools in Novato Unified: three serve grades 9–12, while Nova Education Center serves grades 6–12. In 2025–26, the schools’ average English proficiency was 51%, just above California’s 49%, while average math and science proficiency were 26% and 25%, compared with 38% and 36% statewide. Results vary sharply by school: the most important finding is that Marin Oaks High was far behind the other schools in all three subjects, scoring 19% in English, 0% in math, and 5% in science.

Novato High led English at 69%—10 percentage points above the next-highest school, Nova at 59%, and 20 points above the state. San Marin High led math at 39% and science at 47%; its science result was 13 points above the next school, Novato, and 11 points above the state. Marin Oaks trailed the next-lowest school by 37 points in English, 29 in math, and 9 in science. The strongest school therefore depends on the subject: Novato stands out in English, while San Marin leads in math and science.

Recent results show improvement in some areas and setbacks in others: the four-school average rose 5 points in English and 1 point in math from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but fell 1 point in science. Novato improved in all three subjects, while Nova’s science result dropped 27 points even as its English and math results rose. SchoolDigger’s 2025–26 statewide rankings placed Novato and San Marin in the 75th and 76th percentiles, Nova in the 52nd, and Marin Oaks in the 16th; these rankings are not proficiency scores. The smaller schools have lower student–teacher ratios—14.7 at Nova and 9.2 at Marin Oaks, compared with 19.7 at Novato and 21.9 at San Marin—but their results differ considerably. All four reported free/reduced lunch eligible for school year 2024–25, ranging from 33% at Nova to 83% at Marin Oaks; these figures are context, not an explanation of results. Nova spans more grades than the other schools, so its all-grades results are not perfectly comparable.