Here's How Santa Monica's Best Schools Rank: Niche

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has multiple top-ranked schools, according to new rankings released Monday by Niche.

Niche said: "Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is a top rated, public school district located in Santa Monica, CA. It has 11,005 students in grades K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 22 to 1. According to state test scores, 61 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 74 percent in reading."

Here are the best schools in SMMUSD and their rankings:

• Franklin Elementary School, A+
• Grant Elementary School, A
• Roosevelt Elementary School, A
• Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, A
• Edison Elementary School, A
• Webster Elementary School, A
• Will Rogers Elementary School, A
• Point Dume Elementary School, A
• McKinley Elementary School, A
• John Muir Elementary School, A-
• Lincoln Middle School, A
• Santa Monica Alternative, A
• John Adams Middle School, A
• Santa Monica High School, A+
• Malibu High School, A
• Olympic High School did not receive a ranking

Related: Santa Monica School Calendar 2019-20: 1st Day Of School

Niche looked at more than 94,000 public schools, 4,100 private schools and nearly 11,000 school districts across the country. The rankings are meant to help parents and students find schools that best fit their needs.

“Unlike traditional school rankings, which rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance, Niche’s rankings provide a real-life view of what it’s like to attend a given school,” the company said in a news release.

Comments from current students, alumni, and parents are included in the analysis, as well as observations about things like campus life, extracurricular activities, sports options, diversity, and programs for gifted and special needs students.

“Parents and students need more than test-score data,” Luke Skurman, CEO at Niche, said in the news release. “They need to understand what it’s really like to attend a school before they start the application or registration process.”

For the first time, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, were ranked the top private and public high schools, respectively, in the nation.

2020 top public high schools:

1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology
2. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
3. Walter Payton College Prep
4. Stuyvesant High School
5. Bergen County Academies

2020 top private high schools:

1. Phillips Exeter Academy
2. St. Mark’s School of Texas
3. Phillips Academy
4. The College Preparatory School
5. Trinity School

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.