Ventura High School
Ventura, CA 93001
Phone: (805) 641-5116
Fax: (805) 641-5310
District: Ventura Unified School District
GreatSchools Rating
public • Grades 9,10,11,12 • 1939 students
Ventura High School, a public school located in Ventura, CA, serves grades 9-12 in the Ventura Unified School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 7 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.
Ventura High School is a public school located in Ventura, CA. 1939 students attend Ventura High School.
School Ratings
| 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: April 2, 2024
Didn't suck too much. Still wouldn't go back though. Got bullied and nobody did anything. Other than that it's pretty okay.
Posted: April 2, 2024
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Posted: August 30, 2022
Within just 4 years of attending VHS had gotten more than 6 bomb threats and at least 2 shooting threats. You might think oh the security will help with that right? wrong. The security there is terrible, they stop you for no reason and or they kick you out of indoor hallways again for no reason. "Well, the security probably stops fights and drugs and vandalism, right?" once again wrong. If fights do get stopped it's either from them getting too tired to fight or Mr.C stops it. The drug problem is insane, students have openly sold drugs near the portables and in the bathrooms. They do pretty good when it comes to vandalism but that's beside the point. Finally do you know how easy it is to prevent sex on campus? apparently VHS doesn't. There should be no reason why students think it's a good idea to have sex at school, which there is a good reason for: the punishment for it is usually a week suspension but on rare cases it is actually expulsion (which is a good thing but because of how rare it is it's kind of useless as intimidation).
The best thing about this school are the teachers and councilors and even then some of the teachers are terrible at their job. The education from here is subpar at best.
Posted: August 30, 2022
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Posted: April 20, 2017
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Posted: April 20, 2017
Great Highschool Environment. I really enjoyed my personal academic experience here. This school supported my education and enabled myself to get where I am now.
Posted: June 1, 2015
I feel they are mostly effective. A couple of them do not seem to be use to teaching high schoolers (expect them to 'know' things already instead of teaching them the material) and we have heard of a lot of 'teachers rambling off topic' which while may be a tactic to keeping some students interested, for others its HUGELY annoying! Our son has ADHD and it is all he can do to keep from tearing his hair out sitting in class, add on top of that the teacher going off topic and 'wasting time' has been a source of irritation for us. A couple of our kids have lost their textbooks, when asking the teacher what they can do to get a replacement book (to pay for or borrow) the teacher said there was nothing to be done and has allowed them to pretty much fail his class because they don't have the text book. While yes, its the students fault losing the book (some other students took it at school) I do not feel having a capable child fail a class due to a lost text book is the answer, not to mention bringing down the schools overall grades when these children are in the top 20% of their year is fair to anyone.
Posted: June 1, 2015
One child comes home with heaps! The two other can mostly finish all their assignments in class time provided, except for special projects. Overall, I feel the homework load is ok, though I would LOVE to see students NEVER come home with homework! They have 7 hours in school to 'work', let them engage in other subjects of interest after hours PLEASE!!!
Posted: June 1, 2015
I have not heard of any instances that has addresses these traits by the teachers or staff.
Posted: June 1, 2015
We have 3 children attending Ventura High this year as Freshmen and a Sophomore. In general we liked this school over our assigned school (Buena) and chose to have our kids transfer here (I would rate it a 'Average' Star). Mrs. Frias (our kids counselor) has been very helpful and always gets back to us promptly regarding our questions and we feel she definitely is a concerned advocate for our kids at school (I would rate her a 'Great' star). From what our kids have told us, the restrooms in particular are filthy. Our kids will not use them at all at school and prefer to hold it all day! And that is messy teenaged boys talking, so that can't be good. (Obviously, on this I would vote a 'Terrible' star) I wish they had more summer school opportunities for kids trying to get extra credits. Instead we are having to go elsewhere to provide this for our kids. (A 'Bad' star) Finally, commenting on what another parent mentioned below, I'm not happy with the focus on the sexuality 'celebrations'/support either. I have no problem with supporting ALL of our students and encouraging their success in life but school is not the venue for personal and private issues of this nature. (I would vote a 'Terrible' star on this one too) And yeah, they don't seem to have any faith-based (or maybe its just not Christian) clubs/groups. (I would vote this a 'Bad' star)
Posted: May 29, 2015
The councillors are absolutely terrible and are extremely disorganized. My Son took online classes which were supposedly UC approved but his councillor forgot to mention that it was outdated and no longer UC approved when assigning him the online classes. He had to redo the courses he took. Just things like this constantly occurred. His English teachers were ridiculous, with poor education from state schools, and with severely insufficient morals. His teacher wouldn't give him an A, no because he didn't deserve it by working over 4 hours on English homework, but because she believed no one deserved an A in the class. The cleanliness of the school is absolutely disgusting. There are rodents and roaches on school grounds, trash and food everywhere, and the desks never are cleaned. Many student at school were getting impetigo because of the filth they were exposed to.
Posted: May 29, 2015
When picking my child up from school, I see student being bullied, shoved, or even just crying. The ASB and leadership program does not display any of these traits, the children involved in the program are rude, and do not include other based on a sport another student partakes in or club another student is involved in. It is no a fair vote when voting for queen, kings, princesses for football games and dances because the votes are invalid and consist of people only in ASB or who have close connections with ASB members-enough to change a ballet or 2. I personally know this because my son was in ASB this year and saw many of the students changing the names of the votes or making new voting cards. He said none of the "winners" for prom, senior ball, homecoming were voted for fairly.
Posted: October 11, 2014
Disgusted with the principal of this school. Regardless of her beliefs religious, political, etc, she should leave those at the door. She has hurt our school by picking who can give to our school based on their political and or religious beliefs, actually their personal beliefs, not them being discrimitory in any way. She allows coming out day at school which includes ribbons based on what sexuality a student is, including homosexual, lesbian, bi, trisexual (which means you'll try anything), pan sexual (still don't honestly know what that one means), asexual (really!!!), transgender, and Ally (you support all or some part of LGBT community even if you are not any or all of those preferences.... How is that a sexual orientation??). Did not have abstinent, or celibate (shouldn't those be in there if asexual and Alley are in there). This should not be done during school time..... Our kids are not there to declare the sexuality. This might be acceptable at a college, but not on a high school campus. Disgusted with this principal, you don't want to go here, she's bringing our school down with her personal agendas.
Posted: October 11, 2014
My oldest daughter graduated from VHS several years ago and I have another child in VHS now. I have been happy with the teaching, classes offered including Honors and AP classes as well as music, drama and art programs. I have always found that the Principal was always very supportive and always acted in best interest of the students and the entire student body. Regarding the incident mentioned in previous reviews, I asked my daughter what she thought and also what her friends felt regarding this matter. They felt that the Principal acted appropriately. This ridiculous bashing by parents is very childish.
Posted: September 12, 2014
Okay school, but the administration is overrun by people pushing controversial views. The principle, Val, bans things that are Christian and is a vocal proponent of gay marriage. If family values and the Bible are important to you, I recommend looking elsewhere.
Posted: November 4, 2013
Ventura High School is a fantastic school. There is something for everyone at this school including sports programs, science programs, culinary arts programs, etc...My daughter has the ability to take drama, choir, band, and a foreign language and she is excelling academically and socially. The staff really cares about the students and the administration is open to new ideas and very supportive.
Posted: October 22, 2012
This school was my all-time favorite school I've ever gone to. It has a great learning environment, the students are easy to get along with, and the staff is there to help whenever needed. I miss this school immensely, and wish I could go back.
Posted: September 10, 2012
Have a boy graduated two years ago. He had great high school life, made great friends and, with the added benefit, accepted by very top colleges in the country, thanks to great teachers and counselor
Reviews provided by GreatSchools™
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RiverPark | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Oxnard | CA | 5.7 mi | |
| 2 | Hollywood Beach | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Oxnard | CA | 7.6 mi | |
| 3 | Del Prado Town Homes | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Camarillo | CA | 11 mi | |
| 4 | Camarillo | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Camarillo | CA | 12.3 mi | |
| 5 | Foothill Park | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Camarillo | CA | 12.5 mi | |
| 6 | Northridge | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Northridge | CA | 43.8 mi |
| # | Name | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ventura | Ventura | CA | 2 mi | |
| 2 | Oxnard | Oxnard | CA | 7.5 mi | |
| 3 | Central Camarillo | Camarillo | CA | 12.3 mi |
| Base | Distance |
|---|---|
| Port Hueneme - Naval Base Ventura County | 9.3 mi. |
| Point Mugu NAS - Naval Base Ventura County | 15.2 mi. |
