El Camino High School in Oceanside | Military Town Advisor

Category	Rating	Details
Test Scores	7/10	The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) data from California Department of Education, and using 2025 California Science Test data from California Department of Education.
College Readiness	6/10	The College Readiness Rating uses this high school's graduation rates, college entrance exam participation and performance, or AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment participation to determine how well schools are preparing students for success in college and beyond. The College Readiness Rating was created using 2019 SAT percent college ready data from California Department of Education, using 2019 Average ACT score data from California Department of Education, using 2019 ACT percent college ready data from California Department of Education, using the following data from the 2021 Civil Rights Data Collection: percentage of students enrolled in IB, AP or Dual Enrollment classes in grades 9-12, using 2025 4-year high school graduation rate data from California Department of Education, using 2025 Percent of students who meet UC/CSU entrance requirements data from California Department of Education, and using 2025 demographic data from California Department of Education.

Posted: May 7, 2026

All but one of my six kids has attended EC , its a great school ! Teachers and staff are amazing and a lot of parent support

Posted: May 7, 2026

Posted: June 21, 2025

There needs to be more done for english learning students in the classroom, and more spanish speaking teachers. As a parent I don't feel my child is not always seen and heard when trying their best by participating in tutoring at school or learning english outside of school while trying to obtain good grades. I often feel my child is placed in this group of other non speaking english students that lack the support in the school classroom and curriculum to help them be successful.

Posted: June 21, 2025

Posted: June 8, 2025

As a teacher at El Camino High School, Im proud to be part of a school that truly lives its valuesPerseverance, Empathy, Respect, Responsibility, and Collaboration. These arent just words we teach; theyre part of the daily experience on campus. You can see them in how students support each other, how teachers build relationships, and how we all work together to create a safe and respectful learning environment.

ECHS is a California Distinguished School and has earned recognition on the U.S. News & World Report list of Best High Schools. We offer a wide range of Advanced Placement courses, a full roster of competitive athletics, and strong programs like ROTC and AVID that help students grow as leaders and learners. Our career pathways prepare students for life beyond high schoolwhether thats college, the workforce, or military service.

What stands out the most, though, is how inclusive and supportive this school is. Were focused on equity, making sure all students have access to opportunities and feel like they belong. ECHS is a place where students from all backgrounds can thrive, find their voice, and build a future theyre proud of.

Posted: June 8, 2025

Posted: May 14, 2025

El Camino High School is a strong public school with a solid reputation. At the heart of its success are the teachersexperienced, dedicated professionals who are committed to preparing students for college. ECHS also boasts one of the largest athletic programs in the area, offering freshman teams in most sports. Additionally, the school has a thriving visual arts department, staffed by five full-time teachers and offering a wide range of Advanced Placement courses.

Posted: May 14, 2025

Ive had 3 children graduate from El Camino and 1 is attending now. All of their teachers have gone above and beyond to make sure my kids are well prepared for college and beyond. I appreciate the extra time the teachers devote to their students. Not one of my kids had a bad day at school and all felt cared for by the entire staff. ECHS is a great school!

Posted: May 14, 2025

Posted: May 13, 2025

The one thing that stood out the most to me is that the teachers and staff really care about all of their students. Every teacher cared about the emotional and mental well being of my child as much as they cared for his academic growth. To me, that is invaluable. The school provides courses and pathways that both challenged and engaged my child. Each time I reached out to any adult at the school (coach, teacher, counselor, office staff, administrators), every single one of them offered help and support in any way that they could for both me as a parent and my child as a student. My child took classes that sparked interest in fields that he never considered before and combined multiple skills in different areas to decide his path after graduation. When people ask him what he liked most about the school, his answer every time is, "The teachers. I know my teachers cared about me."

Posted: May 13, 2025

Posted: May 12, 2025

This school helped its students be engaged and informed of the many opportunities that were available.

Posted: May 12, 2025

Posted: May 9, 2025

Both of my students attend El Camino High School! They have an amazing Advanced Placement program where both of my students have done well and earned passing scores on the AP Exam AND earned college credit which saved me money on classes this year for my daughter's Freshman year in college. Both of my children also played sports and had a great time participating in the Wildcats athletic program. I would recommend ECHS to any family living in Oceanside!

Posted: May 9, 2025

Posted: August 8, 2024

El Camino high school was recently designated as a distinguished school and I can see why. There is a high expectation for student conduct and learning. I especially appreciate the music and color guard program. Having participated in the marching band myself in high school, I know how important it is for students to feel connected to their peers. The band program creates a high-level of skill and dedication as well as giving them a safe place to be themselves. I am proud that my sophomore and senior are Wildcats!

Posted: August 8, 2024

Posted: March 23, 2023

The OUSD district and administrators of El Camino are not providing appropriate supports for students with severe autism and behavioral challenges. The special ed department on campus is not equipped with adequate infrastructure, amenities, or adaptive tools. The psychology department has not directly engaged non-verbal students as they would verbal students that reach out for their support. They do not seem to have the will to suggest behaviorally trained staff be hired and work in the classrooms to support teachers or students.

Gates are left wide open during school hours even though they describe themselves as a "closed campus" which is a misnomer. This practice is in place regardless of documented safety incidents that have occurred on campus and in the nearby neighborhoods. This ranges from weapons being brought onto campus and special ed students eloping and experiencing mental health crises on campus. The principal has prioritized delivery trucks (there for the students) maintaining ease of access and not having the will to have security teams open and close the gates for such deliveries. OUSD District representatives including Saul Watson (Interim Coordinator of Student and Family Services) and Erin Wade (Special Ed Coordinator) have remained silent on the open-gate issue even when notified about the practice.

If you have an overachieving student that has strong independent skills and is self motivated then this school will provide adequate opportunities.

We have had 3 students attend this high school.

Posted: March 23, 2023

Posted: January 17, 2023

Both of my children graduated from El Camino High School, one moving on to Cal Berkeley and the other on to Long Beach. My experience with El Camino has been personable, personalized, full of variety, and challenging. They offer not only a full palette of extracurricular activities (championship-winning teams, nationally-recognized coaches, wide variety of clubs and sports with great funding) but their academic programs are consistently rigorous. They have numerous career technical classes as well as many AP classes, taught by teachers who are commonly masters-degree level or national board certified in their field. The admin is involved, the teachers genuinely care, counseling is present and supportive, and the students genuinely enjoy being part of the history of this school.

Posted: January 17, 2023

Posted: December 12, 2022

ECHS offers the best High School opportunities for children within Oceanside. The academic rigor allows students to be successful after graduation. ECHS has a higher rate of post-secondary success. They have great social-emotional support provided by counselors and school psychologists. Students are always first at ECHS. It's the best High School in Oceanside, hands down... and significantly overlooked.

Posted: December 12, 2022

Posted: December 8, 2022

Great school with teachers and staff who truly care about the students!

Posted: December 8, 2022

Posted: December 5, 2022

El Camino High is a great school. When my daughter started as a freshman she was introduced to 21st Century Entrepreneurial Experience class. This helped build her confidence and project management skills. Her teachers are great. EC also has an outstanding Music and Color Guard program. It is a high quality environment that helps all students feel like they belong!

Posted: December 5, 2022

I Graduated from EC and my child it now attending. I am able to see the difference from when I was there to now.

Posted: December 5, 2022

Posted: December 3, 2022

All three of my children graduated from El Camino High School. Their biggest asset is that the teachers care about their students. That makes all the difference in the world. I highly recommend sending your student(s) to ECHS.

Posted: December 3, 2022

Posted: December 1, 2022

ECHS offers a variety of clubs and extracurricular activities for students to participate in. I have always experienced a welcoming environment and friendly office staff.

Posted: December 1, 2022

This is a great community. My son was supported throughout his years at EC. He was involved in Band and the students, parents and staff were instrumental in helping our son become a responsible and caring adult. My son still speaks highly of his high school experience.

Posted: December 1, 2022

I love the support ECHS provides for students! There are also many clubs for my student to be a part of outside of the academics the school provides.

Posted: December 1, 2022

Posted: November 30, 2022

My daughter graduated from El Camino and was very well prepared for college academics. We believe the course work and the teachers at El Camino did a great job of helping her develop solid academic skills and provided an understanding of the world outside of Oceanside.

Posted: November 30, 2022

The school administration has worked hard to increase counseling and support staff for students. EC offers a wide variety of programs for students including a staffing College and Career Center, a full PALs program, a GearUP program in conjunction with local community colleges, and a whole host of course offerings designed to prepare students for the world after high school. Classes like 21st Century Entrepreneurial, Graphic Design, Broadcast Journalism, and Engineering open up career pathways to students outside of the traditional class model.

Posted: November 30, 2022

Students have the options to pursue a great variety of opportunities in the arts and STEM. For instance, the Cybersecurity team is going to states next week. RIght now, the team is in the top 5% of the nation. Additionally, there are a wide variety of AP classes. For instance, students can earn college credit for AP Computer Science Principles and AP Computer Science. Participation in these courses leads to multiple opportunities to participate in mentorship and scholarship programs. Further, if your son/daughter is athletic there are tons of sports on campus.

Posted: November 30, 2022

Great staff that try to keep families and students engaged and involved! Great families that are hard-working and supportive of the staff and students! Very diverse and high-achieving students! No matter what part of the school you are with, you get what you put in! We are all part of the same team to get our scholars to achieve to their highest potential possible and become productive members in society not matter what they pursue!

Posted: November 30, 2022

I was a student at EC in the '80's and my children have gone to and currently attend EC (2 have graduated and 1 is a senior). We all had a wonderful experience! My boys have all been involved in sports, band and clubs. There are many opportunities for students to be involved. Some of the clubs offered are Surf, Ceramics, Computer Science Society, Environmental, Graphic Arts, Model United Nations, Nutrition and Fitness, the list goes on and on. In addition to the countless clubs on campus, EC also offers strong academic opportunities. There are many Advanced Placement Courses, including AP Art History and AP Ceramics. For students who need help with academics, EC has several programs available including Gear Up tutoring, National Honors Society tutoring and subject specific tutoring with individual teachers. The staff at EC are sincerely dedicated to their students! One of my favorite qualities of EC is how diverse it is. I cant say enough about this wonderful school. Any teen would be lucky to attend El Camino High School.

Posted: November 30, 2022

El Camino High School embraces the whole school community.

Posted: November 30, 2022

El Camino has a rich history of supporting academics, sports, and school culture.

Posted: November 30, 2022

Amazing staff and support persons; super clean and students are generally very courteous!

Posted: November 30, 2022

El Camino High School is a terrific high school. Like any other school it is not perfect, but in our experience, the teachers are committed, professional, caring, reasonable and dedicated to their craft. The school community is diverse, and represents our community well. El Camino has a great athletic tradition in Oceanside / San Diego county, and has a multitude of clubs and after school activities. I fully recommend El Camino High School to anyone.

Posted: November 30, 2022

I have found that the teachers at El Camino High School are very supportive of their students. They try to get to know the students and accommodate them in any way that they can, knowing that the students are all 100% intelligent with different abilities and needs. The students seem to feel comfortable with their teachers which makes it less challenging for them to communicate with them. Furthermore, there are several programs at ECHS set in place in order to support students academically as well as socially-emotionally. I recommend ECHS.

Posted: May 31, 2018

I am totally shocked at the lack of supervision outside the classroom. There are fights on a daily basis, vaping everywhere, cell phones used in classes and drugs openly being sold. The security is a joke. If you dont have a serious student wanting to keep focused good luck getting your child motivated.

Posted: May 31, 2018

Do the work and your grades will reflect the work

Posted: May 31, 2018

Some great teachers, some lazy teachers and some teachers just putting in time.

Posted: May 31, 2018

No character building at all. The school seems to be just getting through the day. Too big to do any character building.

Posted: May 31, 2018

Leasdership? What leadership? Lots of work to do in this area.

Posted: May 31, 2018

There are fights on a daily basis. Nothing is done. There are no cameras so a lot goes unnoticed.

Posted: December 2, 2017

Outstanding teachers, staff and student body. Great school!

Posted: September 22, 2017

Schools are often all about what you put into it. If you rarely pay attention to anything school related until it's time to go to a football game, you're not going to get that much out of it.

On the other hand, if you go to Back To School Night, meet your kids' teachers, shake hands with the Principal, introduce yourself to your kids' counselor, etc, etc you can get a lot more out of it.

At this school the new Principal is certainly making every effort to connect with parents. He even has Coffee Talks both in the morning and the evening, so parents with differing schedules can go.

Everyone has a million things to do, for sure, but if you don't visit the school every chance you get, go to Coffee Talks, participate in your PTO or School Site Council, or attend the District's Parent Advisory Committee, you're certainly missing out on a lot of opportunities to make the best possible experience for your kids...!

Posted: January 8, 2015

Here's hoping that the new school year of 2014-15 will be better than the previous years. Under new leadership; Principal Alex Bennett. He does not seem to be tarnished by the "good old boy's network" that has plagued the OUSD district. Only time will tell. Unfortunately, our system is broken and unless some major changes are made in the public education system, we will continue to produce students who are not prepared for college. As long as we continue to accept that mediocrity is acceptable.......things will never get better!!!!! It's time to get rid of tenure and start holding teachers accountable. It's time to ditch the unions and start holding classified employees accountable. It's time identify the GREAT teachers and GREAT employees and mimic them. It's time to set our standards higher and hold people accountable. Once these sort of changes are made...then and only then will we start to see improvement.

Posted: November 13, 2013

To the parents that wrote that its a great school, I am glad you had a good experience with the site leaders. Please ask the principal, if he has ever taken cash from a parent (Military Officer) to get head of the line service during a basketball game or if that officer conduct was honorable in using the relationship with him to do so. If you are in his or the staff inner circle, he and the staff treats you with a lot of respect. But if your not good luck...

Posted: November 12, 2013

Your gut is wrong. I am a mature and well-educated parent with reasonable expectations for public education. I'm not sure why you would think otherwise just because my experience is different from yours. I am sharing what I have personally experienced in a truthful and honest manner. I could just as easily say that my gut tells me you are the principal or one of his lackeys because that's how he operates, but I won't stoop to your level.... I AM A PARENT of students who go to El Camino HS. The school is less than impressive and it's principal is terrible. He is a 'school-to-prison-pipeline' kind of guy. I have had several staff members tell me how much they dislike this guy and how he operates. He has no problem lying to your face if it accomplishes his goals. As far as the staff goes, there are a few good teachers and the secretaries are helpful, but most of the faculty are slow to respond to phone calls or emails, etc. And they rarely offer any real help. Mostly they seem programmed to say how overworked they always are and to 'check the school loop.' The problem is that the school loop is usually weeks (or even months) out-of-date, so it is not much use at all.

Posted: November 12, 2013

I am responding to the recent post by a parent dated Nov 12, 2013. First of all, I am a parent of two students who have, or are currently attending El Camino. I'm disappointed with the response and this parents experience has not been my experience. (My gut is telling me a student wrote it. - or a very immature parent). I have found Principal Rowe to be an effective leader and administrator. The teachers do have an increased work load due to over filled classes but they always respond to my emails the same or next school day. I have found the counseling team to be super and very involved with the students under their supervision. I am very pleased with the education that both my students are or have received at El Camino.

#	Name	Type	City	State	Distance
1	Montecito village apartments	Apartment Complex	Oceanside	CA	0.9 mi
2	St. Cloud	Condominium/Townhouse	Oceanside	CA	1 mi
3	Mira Costa Estates	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Oceanside	CA	1.7 mi
4	Palisades Pointe	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Carlsbad	CA	4.4 mi
5	Shadowridge	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Vista	CA	5.3 mi
6	Windsor at Aviara	Apartment Complex	Carlsbad	CA	7.7 mi
7	Rancho Carrillo	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Carlsbad	CA	8.3 mi
8	La Costa	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Carlsbad	CA	8.6 mi
9	Torrey Highlands	Neighborhood/Subdivision	San Diego	CA	19.5 mi
10	Redhawk	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Temecula	CA	21.4 mi
11	Whispering Winds Apartments	Apartment Complex	San Clemente	CA	22.5 mi
12	Amberwalk Townhomes	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	24.1 mi
13	The Ranchos	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	24.7 mi
14	Copper Canyon	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	24.9 mi

#	Name	City	State	Distance
1	Downtown Oceanside	Oceanside	CA	3.8 mi
2	Carlsbad	Carlsbad	CA	4.6 mi
3	Lake Rancho Viejo	Fallbrook	CA	12.2 mi
4	Encinitas	Encinitas	CA	12.5 mi
5	Torrey Highlands	San Diego	CA	19.5 mi
6	Downtown	San Clemente	CA	22.4 mi
7	Temecula, California	Temecula	CA	22.7 mi
8	Mira Mesa	San Diego	CA	23.2 mi
9	West Side	murrieta	CA	24.3 mi
10	Wine Country area of Scripps Ranch	San Diego	CA	25.1 mi
11	University City	San Diego	CA	25.6 mi

Base	Distance
Camp Pendleton	10.6 mi.
Miramar MCAS	26 mi.
MCRD San Diego	33.8 mi.
San Diego Naval Medical Center	35.2 mi.
North Island NAS	36.4 mi.
Naval Base Point Loma	37.1 mi.
Coronado Naval Amphibious Base	38.6 mi.
San Diego Naval Base	38.7 mi.
March Air Reserve Base	46.6 mi.

El Camino High School

Oceanside, CA 92057

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El Camino High School

Oceanside, CA 92057

School Ratings

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