Best Schools in Santa Clara County, California

CASanta Clara

373 ranked schools in Santa Clara County

Overall Score Percentile

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Introduction

Santa Clara County sits at an unusual intersection: one of the most economically productive regions in the country, with a public school system that reflects that concentration of human capital in meaningful ways. Families relocating to the area for work — particularly in tech — often find that the schools in cities like Cupertino, Los Altos, and Palo Alto are performing at levels rarely seen elsewhere in California. That's not an accident. High educational attainment among parents, strong local tax bases, and deeply engaged school communities all push in the same direction.

That said, the county is large and uneven. Santa Clara County spans everything from the well-resourced suburbs of the peninsula to the more working-class communities in Gilroy and the South Bay. The highest-performing schools cluster heavily around Cupertino, Los Altos, and Palo Alto — with a few notable outliers worth paying attention to. For families trying to figure out where to focus their search, understanding which districts consistently produce strong outcomes (and why) matters more than looking at any single school in isolation.

The Districts That Stand Out

Cupertino Union School District

Cupertino Union is an elementary district, which means it serves students through 8th grade and feeds into the Fremont Union High School District for high school. It covers Cupertino, Sunnyvale, parts of San Jose, and portions of other nearby cities — a suburban corridor that's become closely associated with high academic performance.

The data here is about as concentrated as it gets. William Faria Elementary in Cupertino and Murdock-Portal Elementary in San Jose both score at the 100th percentile across English, Math, and Science. At the middle school level, Joaquin Miller Middle (San Jose) and John F. Kennedy Middle (Cupertino) both sit at the 100th percentile overall, with Sam H. Lawson Middle close behind at 100th in Math and Science and 99th in English.

The community tends to be academically oriented — many families moved specifically to access these schools, and that self-selection shows up in the culture. That competitive atmosphere can be a draw for some families and a consideration for others. The schools hold steady year over year, and the district has a long track record of strong outcomes, not a recent spike. For families moving to Cupertino or nearby parts of San Jose, Cupertino Union is likely a primary factor in the decision.

Fremont Union High School District

Once students leave Cupertino Union or other feeder districts, many land in Fremont Union for high school. The district serves Cupertino, Sunnyvale, and parts of San Jose, with five comprehensive high schools. Lynbrook High in San Jose and Cupertino High and Monta Vista High in Cupertino are the schools that come up most often in parent conversations.

Lynbrook leads the district in the rankings, scoring at the 100th percentile across all three subjects. Monta Vista sits at the 99th percentile overall, with a perfect 100th in Math. Cupertino High scores at the 99th percentile overall as well, with strong numbers across all three subjects. What's notable here is consistency — multiple high schools in the same district performing at the top of the state is uncommon, and it reflects both the student population and the district's resource base.

The high schools in Fremont Union tend to be large, comprehensive campuses with significant AP course offerings and strong college placement outcomes. The academic culture is serious, and competition for grades can be real. Families who want a rigorous high school environment with well-established programs will find a lot to work with here.

Palo Alto Unified School District

Palo Alto Unified is a K-12 district serving Palo Alto and parts of Los Altos, and it performs consistently across all grade levels. Herbert Hoover Elementary scores at the 100th percentile in English, Math, and Science. Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle comes in at the 99th percentile overall, with perfect scores in English and Math. At the high school level, Henry M. Gunn High sits at the 99th percentile overall.

What distinguishes Palo Alto Unified from Cupertino Union is that it's a unified district — meaning a student can stay within the same system from kindergarten through 12th grade. That continuity matters to some families. The district has historically had a strong focus on both academic rigor and student wellness, the latter shaped in part by community conversations in recent years around mental health and pressure. The community is educated and engaged, and schools tend to be well-resourced. Palo Alto itself is an expensive place to live, which makes access to the district a significant financial consideration for many families.

Los Altos Elementary School District

Los Altos Elementary District serves the Los Altos area and has a smaller, tighter footprint than Cupertino Union or Palo Alto Unified. Covington Elementary scores at the 100th percentile across all three subjects, and Georgina P. Blach Junior High sits at the 100th percentile overall (99th in English, 100th in Math and Science).

The district has a quieter profile than some of its neighbors but produces consistently strong results. Los Altos tends to draw families who want the academic outcomes associated with this part of the county in a slightly less intense environment. The schools are well-regarded locally, and the community tends to be stable and engaged without the same degree of competitive pressure that can characterize parts of Cupertino.

Schools Worth Knowing About

Bullis Charter School (Los Altos)

Bullis Charter operates under the Santa Clara County Office of Education and sits in Los Altos. It scores at the 100th percentile in English, Math, and Science. As a charter school, it draws students through a lottery and has built a reputation for project-based learning and STEM integration. Families specifically seeking an alternative to the traditional public school structure in this part of the county often have Bullis on their list.

Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy (Gilroy)

This school stands out for a different reason: it's located in Gilroy, at the southern end of the county, well outside the Cupertino-Palo Alto corridor that dominates these rankings. It scores at the 100th percentile overall, with a 100th in English and Science and 99th in Math. As an early college academy, it offers students the opportunity to earn college credits while completing high school — a model that attracts motivated students and families who want accelerated pathways. It's a genuine outlier in its part of the county and worth knowing about for families in the South County area.

Murdock-Portal Elementary (San Jose)

Murdock-Portal often gets less attention than other top Cupertino Union schools simply because it's in San Jose rather than Cupertino proper. But it scores at the 100th percentile across the board. For families in the parts of San Jose served by Cupertino Union, this school is a strong option that doesn't always come up in the first round of conversations.

How We Rank Schools

Rankings on The School Advocate are based on student performance in three subjects: English (weighted at 40%), Math (40%), and Science (20%). More recent test data is weighted more heavily than older data to reflect current performance. Every public school in California is ranked, which means a school at the 100th percentile is genuinely among the strongest in the state — not just the region.

Compare Schools Yourself

For families who want to dig deeper, the comparison tool at /compare lets you put any two public schools in California side by side. It's useful when you're trying to decide between two neighborhoods, evaluate a school's performance in a specific subject, or understand how a school has changed over time.

Top Elementary Schools

Rank	School	District	City	English	Math	Overall
1	William Faria Elementary	Cupertino Union	Cupertino	100	100	100
2	Herbert Hoover Elementary	Palo Alto Unified	Palo Alto	100	100	100
3	Bullis Charter	Santa Clara County Office of Education	Los Altos	100	100	100
4	Murdock-Portal Elementary	Cupertino Union	San Jose	100	100	100
5	Covington Elementary	Los Altos Elementary	Los Altos	100	100	100
6	Millikin Elementary	Santa Clara Unified	Santa Clara	100	100	100
7	Springer Elementary	Los Altos Elementary	Mountain View	100	100	100
8	Oak Avenue Elementary	Los Altos Elementary	Los Altos	99	100	100
9	John Muir Elementary	Cupertino Union	San Jose	99	100	100
10	Lucille M. Nixon Elementary	Palo Alto Unified	Stanford	100	99	100

Top Middle Schools

Rank	School	District	City	English	Math	Overall
1	Joaquin Miller Middle	Cupertino Union	San Jose	100	100	100
2	John F. Kennedy Middle	Cupertino Union	Cupertino	100	100	100
3	Georgina P. Blach Junior High	Los Altos Elementary	Los Altos	99	100	100
4	Sam H. Lawson Middle	Cupertino Union	Cupertino	99	100	100
5	Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle	Palo Alto Unified	Palo Alto	100	100	99
6	Redwood Middle	Saratoga Union Elementary	Saratoga	99	100	99
7	Ardis G. Egan Junior High	Los Altos Elementary	Los Altos	100	99	99
8	Union Middle	Union Elementary	San Jose	98	99	99
9	Ellen Fletcher Middle	Palo Alto Unified	Palo Alto	99	98	99
10	Warren E. Hyde Middle	Cupertino Union	Cupertino	98	99	99

Top High Schools

Rank	School	District	City	English	Math	Overall
1	Lynbrook High	Fremont Union High	San Jose	100	100	100
2	Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy	Gilroy Unified	Gilroy	100	99	100
3	Cupertino High	Fremont Union High	Cupertino	98	99	99
4	Monta Vista High	Fremont Union High	Cupertino	97	100	99
5	Henry M. Gunn High	Palo Alto Unified	Palo Alto	97	99	99
6	Saratoga High	Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High	Saratoga	98	99	98
7	Mountain View High	Mountain View-Los Altos Union High	Mountain View	97	97	98
8	Leland High	San Jose Unified	San Jose	96	98	97
9	Evergreen Valley High	East Side Union High	San Jose	96	97	97
10	Los Altos High	Mountain View-Los Altos Union High	Los Altos	92	96	96