Head to head
Alta Vista Alternative High School vs Cate School
Public · Santa Barbara
Alta Vista Alternative High School
119 students
VS
Private · Carpinteria
Cate School
300 students
Alta Vista Alternative High School, a public high school in Santa Barbara, CA, and Cate School, a private high school in Carpinteria, CA, compared side by side on enrollment, published academic figures, AP participation, and the breadth of their sports and clubs.
| Metric | Alta Vista Alternative High School | Cate School |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Type | Public | Private |
| District / affiliation | Santa Barbara Unified School District | — |
| Grades served | 9-12 | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 119 | 300● |
| Founded | — | 1910 |
| Student–teacher ratio | ~16.8:1 | — |
| Mascot | — | Rams |
| Tuition | Free (public) | $87,340 boarding / $70,990 day (2026-27, cate.org/admission/financial-assistance); prior year $79,980 boarding / $63,780 day (2024-25, cate.org). The source data's $74,975/$58,975 AND the alternative $77,300/$62,600 are BOTH stale/incorrect — neither matches cate.org for 2024-25 or 2026-27. |
| Academics | ||
| Graduation rate | 82.8% four-year cohort graduation rate (2024-25, SARC / sarconline.org; 83.1% in 2023-24, 82.4% in 2022-23) | — |
| CAASPP ELA proficiency | 26.09% met/exceeded standard (All Students, small cohort, ~48.94% tested) (2024-25, SARC / sarconline.org, CDS 42767860120402; was 33% in 2023-24) | — |
| CAASPP Math proficiency | 9.09% met/exceeded standard (All Students, ~46.81% tested) (2024-25, SARC / sarconline.org) | — |
| College-going rate | Not published / suppressed for this small alternative cohort (null) | — |
| U.S. News national rank | — | — |
| AP participation rate | — | — |
| AP courses (listed) | — | — |
| Programs & life | ||
| Academies / signature programs | 0 | 0 |
| Sports offered | 0 | 13● |
| Clubs & activities | 0 | 23● |
| Notable facilities | — | 11● |
| Has PTA | No | Yes |
| Athletic boosters | No | No |
A marker (●), in the leading school's colors, flags the stronger reported figure on objective, comparable measures only. A dash (—) means the figure isn't published for that school — private schools generally don't sit the state CAASPP tests, so their academic cells are often blank.