Niche.com, the neighborhood networking website, has unveiled its much-ballyhooed rankings of individual schools and their districts for 2022, placing South Pasadena all over its vaunted center stage.
The website ranked South Pasadena Unified School District as the No. 4 district in Los Angeles County, sharing an A+ grade alongside neighbors La Cañada, San Marino and Arcadia unified, which ranked first, second and third. The district was lauded for its average 84% reading proficiency and 79% math proficiency, as well as a 24-1 student-teacher ratio.
Niche also listed SPUSD as having the sixth best teachers in California and as being the 15th safest district in the state. Overall, it was listed as the No. 12 California school district.
Filling out the rankings, Arroyo Vista Elementary School was ranked No. 7 in L.A. County, followed by Marengo Elementary School at No. 8 and Monterey Hills Elementary at No. 25.
Arroyo Vista, with an A+ grade, was noted as having an 87% reading proficiency and 83% math proficiency, and was ranked No. 19 overall in state elementary schools.
Marengo, also with an A+ grade, was listed with an 88% reading proficiency and 86% math proficiency. Overall, it was ranked No. 21 of the state’s elementary schools.
Monterey Hills, again with an A+ grade, has a 79% reading proficiency and a 78% math proficiency. It was listed as No. 72 among the state’s elementary schools.
Meanwhile, South Pasadena Middle School ranked as the No. 6 middle school in the county, and the No. 19 middle school in California. The school boasted an 84% reading proficiency and 78% math proficiency.
South Pasadena High School was ranked as the No. 6 high school in L.A. County, and was the No. 28 high school in the state. It posted an 85% reading proficiency and a 69% math proficiency. SPHS was also praised for a 92% graduation rate, a 43% Advanced Placement course enrollment, an average SAT score of 1330 and an average ACT score of 30.
The excellence in education is contrasted with cost, however. With a median home value of more than $1 million and median rent just over $1,800, South Pasadena received a C grade for housing and a D+ for cost of living.
In addition to utilizing standardized testing data and other information publicly available from the state, Niche also factors in local reviews and input when considering how it evaluates schools and their districts.
