Daniel Hoz // Shutterstock
1 / 25#25. Pioneer Continuation High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Shasta Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 240 (16:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: unavailable
Best high schools in the Redding metro area
According to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 15.5 million students attend public high school every year, and more than 3.76 million are expected to graduate in 2025. However, those students have a wide variety of experiences over the course of their high school careers.
To start, issues surrounding equal educational access persist throughout the United States. A January 2025 report published in Frontiers found that disparities across socioeconomic status, race, gender, and geography can lead to negative outcomes and the perpetuation of systemic barriers.
Outside of these issues, students also pursue many different paths within high school. Roughly 8.3 million high schoolers attend educational programs to prepare for careers in fields like transportation, landscaping, and culinary arts. Meanwhile, nearly 2.5 million are in dual enrollment programs that offer high school and college credit for the same course, allowing students to get a jump on higher education degrees.
Dual enrollment programs are particularly useful considering that more than 3 in 5 (61%) high school graduates head to college, per a 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Unfortunately, high school doesn't always guarantee college success. In 2024, the average SAT score declined for the third straight year, and nearly 2 in 5 (39%) test-takers met or exceeded the test's college readiness benchmarks. ACT scores are also on the decline year over year, down to 19.4 out of 36, and just 3 in 10 students met at least three of the ACT's college readiness benchmarks.
With that said, attending a quality high school will typically help prepare students for their next steps in life, whether that's college, technical school, or going straight into the workforce. Stacker compiled a list of the best high schools in the Redding metro area using data from Niche, which uses seven weighted factors for its rankings. Most of the score is based on academics, but other factors include culture and diversity; sports; clubs and activities; resources; and surveys of parents, teachers, and students.
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2 / 25#24. Redding School Of The Arts
- School type: Public School
- Location: Redding, CA
- Enrollment: 602 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: unavailable
Anna Jurkovska // Shutterstock
3 / 25#23. Shasta County Independent Study
- School type: Public School
- Location: Shasta County Office Of Education, CA
- Enrollment: 107 (27:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: C
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
4 / 25#22. Salisbury High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Red Bluff Joint Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 129 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: C
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
5 / 25#21. Oakview High (Alternative)
- School type: Public School
- Location: Anderson Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 132 (33:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: C
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LStockStudio // Shutterstock
6 / 25#20. North Valley High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Anderson Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 90 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: C+
DenisProduction.com // Shutterstock
7 / 25#19. Shasta Collegiate Academy
- School type: Public School
- Location: Shasta Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 183 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B minus
LStockStudio // Shutterstock
8 / 25#18. Gateway Educational Options School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Gateway Unified School District, CA
- Enrollment: 84 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B minus
LBeddoe // Shutterstock
9 / 25#17. Redding Collegiate Academy
- School type: Public School
- Location: Enterprise Elementary School District, CA
- Enrollment: 188 (31:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B minus
GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock
10 / 25#16. Mountain Lakes High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Gateway Unified School District, CA
- Enrollment: 61 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B minus
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Mircea Moira // Shutterstock
11 / 25#15. Evergreen Institute of Excellence
- School type: Public School
- Location: Evergreen Union School District, CA
- Enrollment: 146 (11:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B
SEALANDSKYPHOTO // Shutterstock
12 / 25#14. Shasta View Academy
- School type: Public School
- Location: Redding, CA
- Enrollment: 509 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
13 / 25#13. West Valley High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Anderson Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 733 (22:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
14 / 25#12. Northern Summit Academy
- School type: Public School
- Location: Anderson, CA
- Enrollment: 184 (15:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
15 / 25#11. Redding Christian School
- School type: Private School
- Location: Palo Cedro, CA
- Enrollment: 585 (18:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B
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maroke // Shutterstock
16 / 25#10. Central Valley High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Gateway Unified School District, CA
- Enrollment: 625 (23:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
17 / 25#9. Anderson High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Anderson Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 568 (22:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
18 / 25#8. Red Bluff High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Red Bluff Joint Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 1,618 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: B+
Joyseulay // Shutterstock
19 / 25#7. Enterprise High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Shasta Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 1,109 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
panitanphoto // Shutterstock
20 / 25#6. Shasta Charter Academy
- School type: Public School
- Location: Redding, CA
- Enrollment: 275 (20:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
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panitanphoto // Shutterstock
21 / 25#5. Foothill High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Shasta Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 1,398 (24:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A minus
Roman Kosolapov // Shutterstock
22 / 25#4. Stellar Charter School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Redding Elementary School District, CA
- Enrollment: 200 (14:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
23 / 25#3. Anderson New Technology High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Anderson Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 124 (19:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
24 / 25#2. Shasta High School
- School type: Public School
- Location: Shasta Union High School District, CA
- Enrollment: 1,333 (21:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
25 / 25#1. University Preparatory
- School type: Public School
- Location: Redding, CA
- Enrollment: 1,013 (22:1 student to teacher ratio)
- Niche grade: A
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jill Jaracz, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 97 metros.
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