How the California School Dashboard rates Santa Barbara schools
California has no letter grades for schools. The state's California School Dashboard gives each school a color on each indicator, from lowest to highest Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue, based on both this year's result and the change from last year. The figures below use four indicators:
- English and math: "distance from standard", the average number of points students scored above (+) or below (-) the grade-level standard on state tests in grades 3 to 8 and 11.
- Graduation rate: the four-year cohort rate, for high schools.
- Chronic absenteeism: the share of K-8 students who missed 10% or more of school days. Lower is better.
Every figure here comes from the California Department of Education's 2025 Dashboard data files (released in fall 2025 for the 2024-25 school year), downloaded in October 2026, for all students. The next Dashboard normally comes out in December, so check the live site before you decide anything.
Santa Barbara-area school districts compared
Most Santa Barbara addresses are served by Santa Barbara Unified School District, which runs the city's elementary schools and the junior high and high schools for both Santa Barbara and Goleta. Two small elementary districts, Hope Elementary and Goleta Union Elementary, serve some addresses on the city's west side, and Montecito Union and Cold Spring serve Montecito.
| District | English | Math | Graduation rate | Chronic absenteeism |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara Unified | -2.5 (Green) | -27.2 (Yellow) | 94.7% (Green) | 17.9% (Orange) |
| Hope Elementary | +47.0 (Blue) | +28.8 (Green) | n/a | 8.9% (Green) |
| Goleta Union Elementary | +31.8 (Green) | +3.8 (Green) | n/a | 10.2% (Yellow) |
| Montecito Union Elementary | +106.7 (Blue) | +94.9 (Blue) | n/a | 7.4% |
| Cold Spring Elementary | +127.8 (Blue) | +100.5 (Green) | n/a | 7.1% |
| State of California | -8.1 | -42.4 | 87.8% | 17.1% |
Source: CDE 2025 Dashboard data files, all students. Santa Barbara Unified's English score rose 3.0 points and its math score 8.8 points on the year before. District averages hide large gaps between schools, shown below. Montecito's two districts are covered on our Montecito schools page.
Santa Barbara high schools
Santa Barbara Unified runs three comprehensive high schools. All three had four-year graduation rates above 95% in the 2025 Dashboard, each rated Blue, against 87.8% statewide.
Santa Barbara High School (Santa Barbara Unified)
Graduation rate 96.8% (Blue), up 2.5 points. English was 25.5 points below standard (Yellow) and math 95.4 points below (Yellow), on 407 tested students.
San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara Unified)
Graduation rate 96.0% (Blue), up 2.5 points. English was 3.5 points above standard (Green) and math 49.9 points below (Green), on 464 tested students.
Dos Pueblos High School (Santa Barbara Unified, Goleta)
Graduation rate 95.8% (Blue). English was 50.2 points above standard (Green), the highest of the district's high schools, and math 12.5 points below (Yellow), on 495 tested students. The district lists Dos Pueblos with San Marcos as a host of its PEAC and AVID programs.
Alternative high schools in Santa Barbara Unified
Alta Vista Alternative High had an 87.1% graduation rate (Yellow) and La Cuesta Continuation High 60.9% (Red), which rose 29.9 points on the year. These schools serve students who need a different setting, and small numbers make their results swing.
Santa Barbara junior high schools
Santa Barbara Unified junior highs compared
| School | English | Math | Chronic absenteeism |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Colina Junior High | +37.9 (Green) | +33.2 (Blue) | 14.0% (Yellow) |
| Goleta Valley Junior High | +5.7 (Green) | -4.3 (Green) | 16.0% (Orange) |
| La Cumbre Junior High | -25.4 (Yellow) | -51.5 (Yellow) | 23.3% (Red) |
| Santa Barbara Junior High | -59.6 (Orange) | -72.5 (Yellow) | 28.1% (Red) |
La Colina, with 792 tested students, posted the strongest results of the four and the only Blue math rating among the district's secondary schools. Santa Barbara Junior High's chronic absence rate rose 6.6 points on the year.
Santa Barbara elementary schools
Santa Barbara Unified elementary schools
| School | English | Math | Chronic absenteeism |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Elementary | +19.4 (Green) | +12.4 (Green) | 11.0% (Yellow) |
| Franklin Elementary | +8.6 (Green) | +0.7 (Green) | 24.1% (Red) |
| Adams Elementary | +5.4 (Green) | -15.5 (Yellow) | 12.4% (Orange) |
| Roosevelt Elementary | +4.8 (Yellow) | -17.8 (Green) | 19.0% (Orange) |
| Harding University Partnership | -6.5 (Yellow) | -18.1 (Green) | 13.9% (Yellow) |
| Monroe Elementary | -19.1 (Yellow) | -39.0 (Orange) | 16.3% (Yellow) |
| Cleveland Elementary | -47.3 (Orange) | -49.0 (Orange) | 28.9% (Red) |
| Santa Barbara Community Academy | -48.6 (Orange) | -55.9 (Orange) | 17.6% (Red) |
| McKinley Elementary | -80.5 (Red) | -77.9 (Yellow) | 18.1% (Yellow) |
Hope Elementary School District
Hope Elementary School District runs three schools. Monte Vista Elementary scored 56.3 points above standard in English and 40.2 above in math (both Blue), Vieja Valley 51.1 and 30.3 (Blue and Green), and Hope Elementary 34.9 and 17.6 (both Green). The district publishes a district map and takes interdistrict transfer requests.
Goleta Union elementary schools near Santa Barbara
Goleta Union is an elementary district, and some addresses with Santa Barbara mailing addresses fall in its area. Its highest 2025 results were at Mountain View (English +75.7, math +51.5, both Blue) and Foothill (+70.7 and +39.3, both Blue). The district publishes an attendance list by street name.
School choice in Santa Barbara: charters and transfers
Charter schools in Santa Barbara Unified
The CDE data lists three charter schools under Santa Barbara Unified. Peabody Charter, with 424 tested students, scored 48.1 above standard in English (Blue) and 32.1 above in math (Green). Adelante Charter scored 0.4 below in English (Green) and 12.7 above in math (Blue). Santa Barbara Charter scored 11.4 above in English (Green) and 11.7 below in math (Yellow). Charter schools set their own admission process, often by lottery, so ask each school for its dates.
Transfers within and into Santa Barbara Unified
The district allows a limited number of intradistrict transfers, for students who want a school other than their resident school, and interdistrict transfers from other districts. The online window for 2026-27 opened on December 1, 2025 and has closed; mid-year requests are considered case by case for spring only. Expect the 2027-28 window to follow a similar calendar, and check the district's transfer page for dates.
How to check which schools serve a Santa Barbara address
Santa Barbara Unified boundary maps and street list
Santa Barbara Unified publishes school and district boundary maps that can be filtered by grade span, plus an attendance area list by street address. Paper copies are available from Student Services at 720 Santa Barbara Street, (805) 963-4338. When you enroll a new student online through Aeries, the system assigns a school of residence from the home address.
Do not rely on a listing, a ZIP code or a map app: boundaries change, and a home can sit in Hope or Goleta Union for elementary school and Santa Barbara Unified for grades 7 to 12. We never claim that a home is zoned for a school. Call the district with the exact address before you make an offer. For the wider market, see our Santa Barbara homes guide.