High Schools in Pasadena Unified

Pasadena Unified has five high schools, including a continuation school, with results spanning high-school grades and middle-grade results at some campuses. In 2025–26, the schools’ unweighted average proficiency was 39% in ELA and 26% in science, compared with state averages of 49% and 36%; math was the widest area of concern, averaging 24% versus 38% statewide. Overall, the five-school math average was 15 percentage points below the state.

Pasadena High stands out in ELA, leading at 56%—6 points above the next-highest result at Thurgood Marshall Secondary and 6 points above the state. Marshall leads in science at 44%, 5 points above Pasadena, and narrowly leads all-grades math at 33%; both schools are among the strongest overall, though Marshall’s math result remains 5 points below the state. Rose City High (Continuation) is the clear low outlier, with 12% in ELA, 15% in math and 4% in science. Its chronic absenteeism is 89%, compared with 13%–25% at the other schools; its graduation rate is 73%, versus 88% statewide. Rose City’s continuation-school setting is important context when comparing it with comprehensive high schools.

Recent changes are mixed: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, the five-school ELA average fell by 3 points, math rose by less than one point while falling 1 point farther behind the state, and science rose by 4 points as its state gap narrowed by less than one point. Individual schools moved differently: Pasadena’s science rose by 12 points, while Blair High declined in all three subjects. SchoolDigger’s 2025–26 statewide ranking percentiles range from 20 at Rose City to 72 at Marshall; Blair’s percentile fell from 70 to 32 since 2023–24, while Rose City’s rose from 12 to 20. Student-teacher ratios among comprehensive schools range from 18.2 at Pasadena to 21.9 at John Muir High. The reported 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible rates were 56% at Blair, 68% at Pasadena, 76% at Muir and 83% at Rose City; Marshall reported 39% directly certified for free meals, a different measure. These figures provide context, not an explanation for achievement differences.