Summary:
ZIP code 93940 has four schools: La Mesa and Bay View Academy serve kindergarten through eighth grade, Monterey High serves grades nine through 12, and Big Sur Charter is an alternative school serving kindergarten through grade 12. In 2024–2025, the four schools’ average proficiency was above California’s in English language arts (ELA), math, and science: 57% versus 49% in ELA, 39% versus 37% in math, and 42% versus 33% in science. The central takeaway is that results vary considerably by school and subject, so no one school leads across the board.
Big Sur Charter led the 2024–2025 group in ELA at 63% and science at 46%; La Mesa narrowly led math at 50%, just 2 percentage points ahead of Big Sur. At the lower end, Bay View Academy had the lowest ELA rate at 46%, while Monterey High had the lowest math and science rates, at 28% and 37%. In 2025–2026, among the two schools with results, La Mesa led Monterey High in math by 25 points and science by 23 points, while Monterey High led ELA by 2 points.
The two schools with scores in both years moved in different directions: their average ELA rose by 2 points, while math fell by 1 point and science by 3 points. Monterey High’s latest profile is especially mixed: ELA was 63%, 13 points above the state, while math was 25% and science 26%, respectively 13 and 10 points below. Its 99% graduation rate and 0% dropout rate compare with statewide rates of 88% and 8%. SchoolDigger ranked La Mesa at the 78th percentile and Monterey High at the 63rd in 2025–2026; Big Sur had the smallest enrollment, 101, and a 20.2 student–teacher ratio. All four schools reported free/reduced lunch eligible measures for 2024–2025, ranging from 28% at Big Sur to 58% at Monterey High. Grade spans differ, and the newer test-score comparison includes only La Mesa and Monterey High.
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