Long Beach Unified School District

Long Beach Unified School District serves 63,966 students across 82 ranked schools in Southern California. It ranks among the larger urban districts in the state, offering families a wide range of school options from elementary through high school. The district's average school score is 6.0 out of 10, which reflects the real performance variation parents should expect when comparing individual campuses.

That variation matters. While the district average sits at 6.0, its highest-rated schools score well above that mark, giving families in the right attendance zones access to significantly stronger options. Stephens Middle School leads the district with a score of 8.8 out of 10 — a meaningful gap above the district mean and a signal of consistently strong academic outcomes at the middle school level. For families with middle schoolers, it's the clearest standout in the district.

At the elementary level, three schools cluster near the top. Cleveland Elementary and Emerson Parkside Academy both score 8.6 out of 10, with Holmes Elementary close behind at 8.5. Parents comparing elementary options should look at these three as the district's highest-performing campuses at that level. On the high school side, Renaissance High School for the Arts earns an 8.6, making it the top-rated high school in Long Beach Unified. Its arts focus gives it a distinct academic profile for students with strong creative interests.

With 82 schools and an enrollment approaching 64,000 students, Long Beach Unified has real scale — which means performance varies considerably from school to school. Parents should prioritize checking individual school scores rather than relying on the district average alone. The 6.0 average masks both strong performers near the top and weaker campuses elsewhere in the district. Families who research specific campuses early, especially around elementary-to-middle transitions, will find several high-scoring options worth targeting during the enrollment process.