Summary:
ZIP code 93444 has two high schools, Nipomo High and Central Coast New Technical High, both serving grades 9–12 in Lucia Mar Unified. They enroll 819 and 318 students, respectively. The clearest academic distinction is that Central Coast leads in all three tested subjects, while math is a particular weakness at Nipomo.
Central Coast is the top performer in 2025–2026: 91% of students were proficient in ELA, 42% in math and 57% in science, compared with 60%, 21% and 39% at Nipomo. The gaps were 31 percentage points in ELA, 21 in math and 17 in science. Central Coast was above California in each subject; Nipomo was above the state in ELA and science but 17 points below in math. Graduation rates were high at both schools—100% at Central Coast and 96% at Nipomo—and both reported zero dropouts. Attendance is a concern to watch at Nipomo: chronic absenteeism was 19%, compared with 16% at Central Coast and 18% statewide.
Recent results show different paths at the two schools: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Central Coast’s ELA proficiency rose 13 points while Nipomo’s fell 8; Central Coast’s math fell 11 points while Nipomo’s rose 2. Across the two schools, the average math gap with California widened from about 1 point below the state to 7 points below, while the ELA advantage grew from 24 to 26 points. SchoolDigger ranks Central Coast 235th of 2,137 California schools (89th percentile, 4 stars) and Nipomo 820th (62nd percentile, 3 stars). Their student-teacher ratios are similar—19.1 at Central Coast and 19 at Nipomo. The 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible measure was 50% at Central Coast and 70% at Nipomo; these are reported school circumstances, not explanations for results.
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