I am always intrigued when my clients ask me this question because it is so subjective. What you believe to be the best of something may be totally different from the opinion of others. Some parents are very academic focused, while others may lean towards the arts. Some students may need more attention in one or more subject/s or perhaps special education. Is diversity important? What about a focus in public service? You see it is very different.

So I will toss this question back to you...What is your definition of Best? What experience do want out of the high school for your child/children? Then when you have answered that for your self, go visit the great links already provided.

I would look somewhat beyond API scores, although I like API scores well for elementary school indicators. I would look into size of high school; college bound record (what proportion of students go to 4-year schools; what % graduate) and I also look at demographics, the socio-economics of the student base. Finally I like to drive by a high school or visit in the front office and feel the tone and "safety" of a high school.

In 95132 (as your question was posed here) we have Independence and Piedmont Hills. Piedmont Hills is much smaller (1/2 the enrollment of Independence) and its enrollment area is challenging to map. It's kind of like an inverse horse-shoe with Independence boundaries in the midst, then as you go towards East San Jose you leave Piedmont and Independence and go into James Lick.

Of these three, Piedmont Hills is far more academically focused overall with better test scores and more of a college-bound characteristic.

To find out where an address "feeds" go to http://www.esuhsd.org and search for "District Locator." Be careful if some houses feed to Piedmont Hills and others to Independence on the same street, these could be vulnerable if district boundaries change.

With Evergreen High School, be careful for streets that feed to Mount Pleasant and Evergreen on the same street, those could be vulnerable to boundary changes with enrollment dips and ebbs.

As a school specialist who lives in 95132, I'm happy to provide more information about the general tone and caliber of our schools!

Erica M Nelson http://www.EricaNelsonEstates.com
DRE 01425475
408-416-7090

EricaNelsonEstates@gmail.com

And then their would be Evergreen Valley HIgh-95148 with an API of 828 and Piedmont Hills High-95132 with an API of 795. API=Academic Performance Index. All schools API scores change yearly as students are tested. Statistics available today are from year 2008. Two websites where you can research:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ap/apireports.asp
http://www.greatschools.net

Hi Daniel, from an API score position, it looks like Leland High with an 849 API score and then Pioneer High at 809.

See: http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2008/2008GrthAPIdst.aspx?cYear=…

Best, Steve