Summary:
Poway Unified has seven high schools: five comprehensive schools serving grades 9–12, Abraxas Continuation High for grades 9–12, and Poway to Palomar Middle College High for grades 11–12. In 2025–26, the six schools with reported test results all scored above the state in English, math, and science. Their averages exceeded state results by 26 points in English, 22 in math, and 29 in science, though the gaps between schools ranged from 23 to 28 points. The key takeaway: the group is well above state results overall, but families will find meaningful differences among schools.
Westview High led English at 87%, while Del Norte High led math at 74%; Poway to Palomar led science at 76% and placed second in English at 82%. At the lower end, Poway High had the lowest English result, 59%, and science result, 53%; Poway to Palomar had the lowest math result, 46%. The top-to-bottom gaps were 27 points in English, 28 in math, and 23 in science.
Recent changes favor science: the six-school average rose 8 points in science and 1 in math from 2024–25, while English fell 1 point. Poway to Palomar had a particularly large science gain of 25 points; Rancho Bernardo High improved in all three subjects. SchoolDigger ranked Westview 42nd of 2,137 schools with five stars and Poway 352nd with four stars. School context varies too: the 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible measure ranged from 10% at Del Norte to 39% at Abraxas, and student-teacher ratios ranged from 9.7 at Abraxas to 36.5 at Poway to Palomar. Abraxas’s test scores are suppressed, but its reported graduation rate was 30% and chronic absenteeism was 67%, compared with 97% and 8% districtwide.
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