South Bay School Information
The South Bay region has some of the best school districts in Los Angeles County, the best being the Beach Cities Schools, Palos Verdes, Torrance, and cities offering magnet programs. Many other school districts in the area are also above average in Los Angeles County.
The California Department of Education provides an annual ranking of the schools' academic performance by the Academic Performance Index (API). To learn more about the definition of API and do a thorough search on any school in California, please visit the California Department of Education website.
In the following, we provide a comprehensive summary of the South Bay School District information to help you make your decision on your home purchase. The API report for each school in the South Bay area is given below. Note the API score system is based on a maximum score of 1000. The top ranking for school is 10.
Beach Cities School Districts:
Redondo Beach Unified School District Map
Manhattan Beach Unified School District Map
El Segundo Unified School District Website
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District:
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
An area called East View / Rancho Palos Verdes, or along Western Ave at the border to San Pedro, is in the special area where residences have the opportunity to choose between the Palos Verdes and the Los Angeles School District. Being on the outskirts of Palos Verdes, it may take a little commute to the schools but many parents do not mind that for the award winning PV schools. To check which PV school a particular address belongs to, please visit the following website:
Torrance Unified School District:
Torrance High School Boundary Map
Torrance Middle School Boundary Map
Torrance Elementary School Boundary Map
Many people have questions regarding the school district for the Torrance Harbor Gateway and County Strip areas; that is, from the east of Western Ave to Vermont Ave in part of the 90501 zip code and the 90502 zip code. In this area, the schools fall within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The high school for this area is Narbonne High, while homes within the 90501 zip code west of Western Ave are within the Torrance Unified School District and Torrance High area.
Technically, this special area actually belongs to the Los Angeles County, not the City of Torrance. Due to the adjacency to Torrance, the Harbor Gateway area shares the same 90501 post office with southeast Torrance. The county strip area zip code of 90502 is also controlled by the Torrance post office, therefore, the mailing address in this area shows Torrance instead of Los Angeles. A commonly used name for this area is "Torrance PO", which stands for Torrance Post-Office area but not within Torrance Unified School District.
Besides Torrance Harbor Gateway, County Strip, other small cities in the surrounding area, such as Harbor City and Lomita, both belong to the Narbonne High School area.
Narbonne High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Wiseburn School District:
The western tip of Hawthorne (mostly west of Highway 405) has a very nice small school district called Wiseburn. The schools in this district mirror those in El Segundo due to the adjacency to the El Segundo area. It might be an area for consideration for many parents. For many years, the nice Wiseburn area only has elementary and middle schools, but starting in 2009 Wiseburn will roll out their new high school program.
Wiseburn Schools Academic Performance Index (API) Scores Summary
Los Angeles Unified School District:
San Pedro has good Magnet School Programs. Please click here for more details.
San Pedro High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Lomita has good Magnet School Programs. Please click here for more details.
Gardena has good Magnet School Programs. Please click here for more details.
Gardena High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Carson High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Centinela Valley Union School District:
Hawthorne High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Lawndale High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Long Beach Unified School District:
Jordan High School Academic Performance Index (API) Report
Many of our clients also inquire about schools in Cerritos, as it is well known that Cerritos has great schools and the home values are much lower than those in the best school districts in South Bay. In the following, we provide some basic information about the school district in Cerritos for your reference.
ABC Unified School District:
Cerritos High School Boundary Map
Walnut Valley Unified School District:
Another great school district on the eastern tip of Los Angeles County is the Walnut Valley Unified School District, covering most of the City of Walnut and Diamond Bar.
Walnut Valley Unified School District Boundary Map
