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Best High Schools in Zip Code 91962

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its California rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

456

Students

Top rankedMountain Empire High1459^th of 2,135 California high schools

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Biggest riser

Mountain Empire High up 95 spots statewide this year

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Newly ranked this year

Sunrise High (Continuation)

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Summary:

ZIP code 91962 has three high schools in Mountain Empire Unified, serving grades 7–12: Mountain Empire High (412 students), Hillside Junior/Senior High (31), and Sunrise High (Continuation) (13). The clearest academic results are for Mountain Empire and Sunrise: in 2025–2026, Mountain Empire had the higher reported English and math proficiency, but both schools were below state rates. Mountain Empire’s strongest result was English, at 41% proficient compared with 49% statewide; its math was 19% compared with 38% statewide.

Mountain Empire stands out among schools with reportable scores, with English proficiency 23 percentage points above Sunrise (41% versus 18%) and math 19 points higher (19% versus 0%); it is also the only school with a numeric all-grades science result, 13%. Hillside’s 2025–2026 test scores are suppressed, so its academic results cannot be ranked against the others. On completion and attendance, Mountain Empire again has the strongest figures: its graduation rate was 94%, versus 83% at Hillside and 69% at Sunrise, while dropout rates were 5%, 17%, and 31%, respectively. Chronic absenteeism ranged from 38% at Mountain Empire to 87% at Hillside and 97% at Sunrise.

Mountain Empire’s results improved in English and math from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: English rose 8 percentage points and math 4, while science was essentially unchanged at 13%; its English and math gaps to the state narrowed by 8 and 3 points. SchoolDigger gives Mountain Empire a 2-star rating and 32nd-percentile ranking, compared with Sunrise’s 1 star and 11th percentile in 2025–2026. In 2024–2025, student–teacher ratios were similar (15.1 at Hillside, 17.1 at Sunrise, and 18.7 at Mountain Empire), while spending per student was much higher at Sunrise: $86,403 versus about $25,000 at each of the others. All three reported the same low-income measure, free/reduced lunch eligible, for 2024–2025: 42% at Mountain Empire, 81% at Hillside, and 85% at Sunrise; these figures describe school contexts but do not explain results. Sunrise is a continuation school, an important context when comparing it with the other schools.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				CAST Science (2026)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2026)			Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2026)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Sunrise High (Continuation)	Public	9-12	7454 Pine Blvd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-8693	13	1	17.1	84.6%	2 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (84.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10.7	1908^th of 2135 public high schools	10.6%					(n/a)						18.2	18.2		0.0	0.0	$54,112	$507	$53,605
Mountain Empire High	Public	9-12	3305 Buckman Springs Rd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-8601	412	22	18.7	42.0%	124 (30.1%)	6 (1.5%)	261 (63.3%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.2%)	31.4	1459^th of 2135 public high schools	31.7%		26.9	1554^th of 2162 public high schools	28.1%	95		13.2		13.0		41.2	41.2		19.1	19.1	$23,791	$963	$22,828
Hillside Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	7454 Pine Blvd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-8693	31	2	15.1	80.6%	8 (25.8%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (64.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (9.7%)								(n/a)											$23,653	$512	$23,141
Cottonwood Community Day	Public	7-12	3291 Buckman Springs Rd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-8693	0			—	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)

Cities Near Zip Code 91962

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Pine Valley	4.24 mi	8	705^th
Descanso	9.68 mi	1	341^st
Campo	12.46 mi	1	830^th
Boulevard	14.01 mi	1	813^th
Potrero	17.25 mi	1	882^nd

See the top CA California cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.