San Luis Obispo High School
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Phone: (805) 596-4040
Fax: (805) 542-9075
District: San Luis Coastal Unified
GreatSchools Rating
public • Grades 9,10,11,12 • 1678 students
San Luis Obispo High School, a public school located in San Luis Obispo, CA, serves grades 9-12 in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 10 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.
San Luis Obispo High School is a public school located in San Luis Obispo, CA. 1678 students attend San Luis Obispo High School.
School Ratings
| Category | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Test Scores | 9/10 | 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 | 10/10 | 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: July 22, 2024
I have two students in this school, one just graduated and had many post-HS college opportunities. The school offers a supportive environment, a wide variety of both trade- and college-track classes and extra-curricular opportunities. Like any public school, it has its limits, counselors being overwhelmed and tech/schedule software being frustrating. Also, there is a new principle since those old bad reviews.
Posted: July 22, 2024
Posted: July 22, 2024
Posted: July 22, 2024
Posted: July 22, 2024
Posted: July 22, 2024
Posted: July 22, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
Posted: July 18, 2024
As a parent of a recently graduated senior and an incoming sophomore at SLHS, I can give an accurate portrayal if the school. Both of my children have had a good experience at this school. They have been treated fairly and respectfully by teachers and coaches of their respective classes and sports. I do feel that the school could use at least one more, if not two more academic counselors. My children's counselor has many students assigned, and doesn't seem to have enough time to handle requests and provide enough help and feedback to the students. I think this is more a symptom of the school district not having enough money, but this is unfortunately something that many school districts have to contend with.
SLHS offers a number of career series for students who are interested in learning about a topic they can study in college or prepare for a job just out of high school, such as automotive, culinary and computer science.
My overall recommendation is very positive for SLHS. If your child is interested in learning and plans to explore all the opportunities available to them with an open mind, they will be successful and happy!
Posted: May 29, 2024
Since my family moved from San Luis Obispo to a very affluent city with a highly ranked high school, I would like to offer my review of SLOHS in comparison to Palos Verdes High School. My daughter attended SLOHS for 9th, 10th, and half of 11th. She played a varsity sport and took AP classes. SLOHS is better than any school down here in Palos Verdes. The culture at SLOHS was much kinder and more respectful. The quality of teaching was better. Down here the teachers are lazy and somewhat irritated with students. They swear in class, have no empathy, and don't offer help beyond class time. It is the norm here to have a tutor. We never needed a tutor while at SLOHS. Teachers at SLOHS allowed students to come in at lunch if they needed extra help. Some kept office hours for questions. They encouraged students to advocate for themselves. Down here students can't advocate for themselves without teachers being disrespectful towards them. At SLOHS students have good food options at lunch both on and off campus, the sports teams have vans for transportation, dances and events are affordable, art supplies are provided free of charge, and the campus is recently renovated and safe. One bad thing about SLOHS is the congested parking lot and police officers handing out tickets instead of helping with traffic flow. The other bad thing is when you advocate for your child, you are asked to step back and let the child lead. Not every child is ready for that; they all develop this skill at different times. Also, it took 6 months for a 504 plan to be approved through SLCUSD. Down here in PVPUSD the counselors and school psychologist do their own case study and set up the 504 plan in 2 weeks. Overall SLOHS is an amazing school with highly qualified teachers that genuinely care about the students. Having 3 teens I can say each graduating class has its own vibe depending on what families are involved. SLO is a small community and some teams and cliques are unwelcoming to newcomers. We found this with the multigenerational SLO families. Small towns have big politics.
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: May 29, 2024
Posted: June 9, 2023
Great campus and environment when I was able to visit
Posted: June 9, 2023
Posted: August 26, 2013
Don't believe the bottom posts of one * (submitted from the same parent). My suggestion is teach your child to defend themselves - we once knew how in this country, mine do. However, do get more specific, SLO is the High School most all parents search frantically for, however never lucky enough to find. Both my boys prospered well from the learning set achieved while attending here. The school is led by a confident and accomplished Principal who always has the kids and schools best interest in the forefront. He is a tireless administrator, who not only tried his very best he succeeds! Because of the Principals leadership, combined with a first-rate teaching faculty, there is no California public High School I would have rather my boys attended (sums it up). In closing, one is now attending Cal poly s Engineering school and the other Stanford, studying to be an attorney (not sure what I did wrong there ;)
Posted: January 21, 2013
The principal doesn't care about students, he is more concerned with his career and looking good on paper and in public, as most of the staff in the School District. They are like career politicians that swing in and out of the District, consume the six figure salaries and leave.
Posted: April 6, 2011
this school was a nightmare! Not safe for your kids, bullies etc. I made the principal aware of this and he denied and ignored situation. I worked in the shcools and heard this from others. the good thing there is an option for Templeton Independent study....my child went to college early. Only if parents knew what goes on in that school. One of the teachers made incriminating judgemental comments regarding my child, I wanted to sue the school . This was not just my experience. note the comment, the counselor works closely with my child....probably because they have severe problems! My child is doing great in college now 3.8 gpa
Reviews provided by GreatSchools™
| # | Name | Type | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arbor Ridge Apartments | Apartment Complex | Santa Maria | CA | 27.1 mi | |
| 2 | Santa Maria | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Santa Maria | CA | 27.1 mi | |
| 3 | Orcutt | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Orcutt | CA | 31.3 mi | |
| 4 | Vandenberg Family Housing | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Vandenberg Air Force Base | CA | 37.4 mi | |
| 5 | Los Alamos | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Los Alamos | CA | 42.7 mi | |
| 6 | Lompoc | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Lompoc | CA | 45.7 mi |
| # | Name | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paso Robles | Paso Robles | CA | 24.1 mi |
| Base | Distance |
|---|---|
| Vandenberg AFB | 37.8 mi. |
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