Methodology & data sources

What this site is

Santa Barbara High Schools is an independent, informational guide for families, students, and educators researching high schools in and around Santa Barbara, California. We are not affiliated with any school, district, or the City of Santa Barbara, and we do not rank schools as “best” beyond what objective, published figures support.

Where the data comes from

Each profile is compiled and cross-checked from a mix of official and third-party sources:

California School Dashboard

state accountability indicators for public schools (academics, graduation, suspension).

CAASPP (Smarter Balanced)

state ELA and math proficiency results — public schools only.

CDE DataQuest

California Department of Education enrollment, staffing, and demographic data.

NCES

federal enrollment counts and school identifiers.

U.S. News & GreatSchools

comparative ratings and AP participation figures.

MaxPreps

athletics rosters, schedules, and recent team records.

Official school & district sites

programs, academies, leadership, tuition, and contact details, treated as authoritative where they conflict with third parties.

How current the data is

Where a figure is tied to a reporting year, we stamp it (for example, “2023–24, CAASPP”), and each profile shows a Last updated note. Public-school enrollment is generally the most recent state-reported year; private-school figures use the latest numbers each school publishes. We review profiles periodically and when corrections come in — state and federal data typically refresh once a year.

Limitations

• Private schools do not take the state CAASPP tests, so their academic cells are sparse and are not comparable head-to-head with public schools.
• Some athletics detail — coaches, recent records, and AP course lists — is incomplete or not published, and is shown as a dash rather than estimated.
• Leadership, tuition, and enrollment can change between our updates. Always confirm current details directly with each school.
• Where sources disagree, we prefer official school and district figures and note the range when it is meaningful.

Spot something wrong?

We would rather fix an error than leave it. If a figure looks off or out of date, tell us: