Best High Schools in Zip Code 93204

Three high schools serve ZIP code 93204, all in Reef-Sunset Unified: two serve grades 9–12, and Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day serves grades 6–12. The schools differ greatly in size, from 762 students at Avenal High to 14 at Sunrise Continuation High and 7 at Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day. Avenal pairs very strong completion and attendance figures with proficiency results below the state in every reported subject: its 2025–26 graduation rate was 99%, chronic absenteeism was 12%, and ELA, math and science proficiency was 35%, 5% and 14%, compared with state results of 49%, 38% and 36%. The key takeaway is that Avenal’s strong graduation and attendance do not mean its reported test scores are at state levels.

Avenal stands out for the strongest reported graduation and attendance outcomes, while Sunrise has the weakest reported figures on those measures. In 2025–26, Avenal’s graduation rate was 99% versus Sunrise’s 74%, a 26-point gap; dropout was 0% versus 26%, and chronic absenteeism was 12% versus 58%, a 46-point gap. In 2024–25, Avenal’s reported ELA and math scores were 39% and 13%, while Sunrise reported 0% in both subjects. Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day has no reported school proficiency results, so a full three-school achievement ranking is not available; Sunrise’s current proficiency values are suppressed.

Avenal’s reported proficiency pattern shifted unevenly over time: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, ELA fell by 4 points and math by 8, while science rose by 4; its gap with the state widened in ELA and math but narrowed by 1 point in science. SchoolDigger placed Avenal in the 24th statewide percentile in 2025–26, down 6 points from 2024–25 and 2 from 2023–24. School size and ratios also vary: Avenal’s student–teacher ratio was 25.6, compared with 4.6 at Sunrise and 7.2 at Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day. As context, Avenal reported 96% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–25; Sunrise reported 43% directly certified for free meals in 2024–25, and Reef-Sunset Secondary Community Day reported 50% directly certified for free meals in 2023–24. Both smaller schools are flagged as likely to serve free meals to all students through Community Eligibility; these different measures and years are not directly comparable.