Balboa High vs Washington (George) High

Washington (George) High and Balboa High are both San Francisco public high schools serving grades 9–12, but they sit at very different positions in the statewide rankings. Washington (George) High ranks #121 of 9,533 schools in California, while Balboa High ranks #378 of 9,533 — a gap of 257 places that reflects meaningful performance differences across every measured dimension. Washington (George) High holds an overall rating of 9.3/10 against Balboa High's 8.9/10, a 0.4-point gap that understates how far apart the two schools land in the state distribution.

The academic advantage at Washington (George) High is the sharpest delta: a 9.5/10 academic score versus Balboa High's 8.9/10 — six-tenths of a point that places the two schools in clearly different performance tiers. Growth scores tell a similar story, with Washington (George) High earning a 9.7/10 growth score compared to Balboa High's 9.4/10. In other words, Washington (George) High is not only starting from a higher baseline but is also moving students forward at a faster measured pace.

Demographically, the two schools differ in size and socioeconomic composition. Washington (George) High enrolls 2,008 students — 60 percent more than Balboa High's 1,251. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility runs at 61 percent at Balboa High versus 50 percent at Washington (George) High, indicating Balboa serves a meaningfully higher share of economically disadvantaged families. Student-teacher ratios are nearly identical at 21.2:1 and 21.4:1 respectively, so classroom access to teachers is not a differentiating factor between the two campuses.

Both schools cover grades 9–12 and sit 4.8 miles apart within San Francisco Unified, so family geography within the city is likely the first practical filter. Beyond proximity, the data show Washington (George) High leading on every academic and growth metric, while Balboa High's higher free and reduced-price lunch rate signals its role serving a larger share of the district's highest-need students.