2023 Best Places to Teach in the Los Angeles Area

• Laguna Beach, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.16 out of 5  19 reviews

Senior: Laguna Beach Unified School District has provided me with all the means necessary for me to go on and be successful in life. From the activities, resources, and offered courses, I found my passion and have the tools to follow it in college, a job, and the rest of my life.... Read 19 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 18:1

• Average teacher salary $127,138

• Arcadia, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.29 out of 5  119 reviews

Senior: Arcadia Unified is a wonderful school district. Teachers and administrators always strive for academic excellence and provide a lot of support to students. Arcadia High's counselor department is highly knowledgeable and supportive of students, in all grades especially in the Senior year. Arcadia High has a wide variety of extracurricular activities, advanced classes such as honors, and AP classes. The communication system with parents is very effective.... Read 119 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 24:1

• Average teacher salary $111,323

• Santa Monica, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.33 out of 5  64 reviews

Parent: We had a great experience from Kinder through high school for both of our boys; one a third year college student and the other, currently a senior at SAMOHI. Our oldest son got into his top college choice and was well prepared thanks to the teachers, counselors, administrators and peers from SAMOHI. It is extremely important as a parent to stay involved and be able to help your students navigate the system as it can be overwhelming and at times, political. Even through the pandemic, kudos to all for making the best of it!... Read 64 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 21:1

• Average teacher salary $105,691

• Beverly Hills, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4 out of 5  20 reviews

Senior: I really liked that it functions just as a private high school, even though it is a public high school. There are a lot of academic opportunities. There are so many AP and honors classes that I wanted to take but did not have the time. There are also many student-led clubs, which allows the students to discover new interests outside of class. All of the teachers are well educated and are very qualified to teach their classes. However, I feel like I have to criticize the administration because of its decision to change grading platforms in the middle of the school-year. The process was very inconvenient, unreasonable, and costly for the school district and students. Furthermore, the food is terrible and is full of unhealthy fat. It really needs a change in my opinion. My overall high school experience was positive, considering that I got to meet great teachers and to take very challenging courses during my pathway towards college.... Read 20 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 14:1

• Average teacher salary $105,670

• Redondo Beach, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.55 out of 5  29 reviews

Middle School Student: Redondo Union High School is an excellent school for many reasons including their academics, college readiness and sports. Their teachers make sure you get the most out of their academic classes, they want to see you pass the class with your best effort and that encourages their students to do their best no matter what academic struggles they face. Their college counselors help you a tremendous amount your senior year. They help you sign up for FAFSA, grants and scholarships to help pay for college and they give students helpful information they wouldn't be able to find on their own.This is beneficial to the students so they can be to choose what to eat and they can still be healthy. The schools sports teams are incredibly talented, they are always bringing the school home to CIF or the championships. We are fortunate to have a hall full of their trophies and accomplishments. As the students we support our teams in any sport to do their very best.... Read 29 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $97,513

• El Segundo, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.39 out of 5  31 reviews

Junior: I am currently a junior at El Segundo High school and despite the pandemic, the teachers and faculty have continued to encourage students and help them in the best way possible. We will be going back to school soon and the school has done an amazing job of ensuring everyone’s safety and following proper protocol. The teachers are all wonderful, friendly, and helpful as they are open to finding extra time to help student who need it. I have definitely had a wonderful high school experience and created amazing memories.... Read 31 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 24:1

• Average teacher salary $97,490

• La Canada, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 3.95 out of 5  19 reviews

Parent: My kids both went through the La Canada school system and I think it’s the best public school system I’ve ever seen. Great teachers, lots of parental involvement, and highly motivated students. Most importantly, La Canada High is big enough to offer many extracurricular and sports but not so huge that a kid has to be a future Broadway star to get a part in the school play. A really great experience for our family.... Read 19 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 24:1

• Average teacher salary $94,097

• South Pasadena, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.08 out of 5  24 reviews

Alum: I had a wonderful experience at South Pasadena. I had numerous opportunities in building lasting healthy mentoring relationships with a handful of teachers. This school really did everything in their willpower to make sure there was a place for everyone. There was diversity everywhere, and the system supported and encouraged it. There were many different clubs started by students. This alone reflected the school's success in inspiring their students to become engaged in school and taking their time in high school to build up their personal identities. There was a great amount of school spirit and individualistic spirit in the students. I am grateful to have gone to school here even if I didn't realize it at the time...... Read 24 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 24:1

• Average teacher salary $97,105

• Palos Verdes Estates, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.15 out of 5  73 reviews

Senior: The School is great if you are motivated to take difficult classes with the best teachers. If you are not - the lower end teachers are not as good. There are a ton of extra curricular activities to meet just about anyone's interest - in fact it is almost too many. Everyone here is pretty accepting and they pretty much do their own thing There are enough Varsity Sports that just about anyone can join one. The Counselors are great too! And really help guide you through the College selection process - if you ask for help. The school is large and if you do not put yourself out there - you may get lost. The biggest downside are the facilities. The school is showing its age and is not as nice as other area schools such as Redondo Union. They are trying (the new SMERT building is nice and up to date) but they need to have a campuswide physical plant renovation.... Read 73 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 23:1

• Average teacher salary $95,806

• San Marino, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.44 out of 5  27 reviews

Parent: San Marino Unified School District provided my children with a private school experience in a public school environment. In addition to a highly rigorous academic program, the District provides excellence in athletics, arts, and activities that distinguish the District as a premier provider of K-12 education. My children had a wonderful experience and as a parent, I enjoyed being a part of such a caring and engaged community of volunteers who continuously come together in support of the schools!... Read 27 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 21:1

• Average teacher salary $90,822

• Whittier, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.3 out of 5  145 reviews

Junior: The school has a wide range of organizations the student body can join. There is everything from Spanish Honors Society to M.A.D. Academy, with Theatre, STEM club, and much more! There is a College and Career Center, where the students can go in any time and ask questions about applying to college and guidance as to how to choose a career path, how to fill out the FASFA form, and anything else. The sports at Santa Fe include volleyball, soccer, water polo, track, cross country, golf, swim, football, tennis, basketball, wrestling, dance, and cheer.... Read 145 reviews

• grade A minus

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 26:1

• Average teacher salary $112,852

• Ontario, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.3 out of 5  237 reviews

Senior: I have been afforded many educational opportunities here at Chaffey. Through taking online courses, I have gained a broader understanding of the material of college coursework, and I have been able to expand my knowledge in a variety of career fields that I plan to pursue. I have became motivated to finish school early and plan on graduating from high school with one year of my college general education courses completed so that I can pursue my dream of becoming a Nurse Anesthetist. As I finished my psychology course, I decided that I would love to be more involved in health care so I set meetings up with my councilor every quarter to see what classes at Chaffey college that can contribute to an early school completion and my interest in the medical field. Since then, I have taken 12 college courses in the span of three years and made my early graduation process possible. I now have a passion for studying the career field of a Nurse Anesthetist and Physician Assistant.... Read 237 reviews

• grade A

• grade A

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $110,115

• Murrieta, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.34 out of 5  113 reviews

Alum: I had a good experience with MVUSD. The staff were supportive, there were many ways to get involved, and it was a great High School experience. I recommend Vista Murrieta High School to those who want to be involved on campus, are looking for high level academic classes (AP or Dual Enrollment), and people who want to be connected to their high school. You definitely take away what you put in to this school, so the more you are involved, the more you will benefit!... Read 113 reviews

• grade A

• grade A

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $104,503

• Oak Park, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4 out of 5  56 reviews

Alum: As an alum from OPUSD elementary, middle, and high schools I can personally attest to the excellence of the OPUSD educational experience. Stemming from a heart of strong parent involvement, OPUSD offers a wealth of educational opportunities, a superb nurturing environment, and produces very well prepared and well educated graduates. This district is hard to beat!... Read 56 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 23:1

• Average teacher salary $95,517

• Glendora, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.37 out of 5  43 reviews

Alum: Glendora Unified School District is made up of a community of educators who value resources, collaboration, and development. While attending Glendora High School, I was impressed by teachers and directors who valued the student as a whole. Teachers take their job seriously, and strive to invest in their students, helping them grow academically, mentally, and socially. Glendora Unified is a great district, highly sought after. I transferred from Charter Oak School District mainly to partake in the choir program offered at the high school. Glendora has great resources, and is in a great area. Highly recommend for your student!... Read 43 reviews

• grade A

• grade A

• Student-teacher ratio 23:1

• Average teacher salary $103,096

• Fullerton, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.09 out of 5  214 reviews

Alum: Fullerton Union High School is a diverse large campus in the heart of downtown Fullerton and just minutes from California State University Fullerton. The school has an incredible connection with the community and has a rich history of 127 years! As a student I participated in the award winning theatre and music programs that taught me to encourage creativity and work with others. During Fall, you can't go anywhere in Fullerton without people talking about football. Our school has an amazing state of the art football stadium that every school in the district uses. I was lucky to be able to walk on the field to receive my diploma. Luckily for FUHS students, the Fullerton community college is right next door. As a junior or senior, the community college allows the students to take GE classes for college credit. I took racquetball my junior year to get my physical education credit. High school is what you make of it, luckily for me I was able to have a great experience at my alma mater.... Read 214 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $112,247

• Long Beach, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.21 out of 5  635 reviews

Parent: We love Long Beach Unified School district for it's diversity in student population, motivated teachers, abundance of college-prep courses, top-ranked sports programs and The Long Beach College Promise! An exceptional way to prepare our students for their future in the world they live in! Our school district has done an impressive job in keeping our students/teachers safe during the COVID pandemic. It was not an easy task to keep the students motivated during online classes using the technologies available to them. We appreciated how the Long Beach School District kept an open line of communications with all of our families during COVID school closures. Community-minded -- that's how we think of our public school district. And proud of it!... Read 635 reviews

• grade A minus

• grade A

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $112,852

• Placentia, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.29 out of 5  136 reviews

Niche User: PYLUSD continues to be positive, forward thinking and offering solutions to the challenges education faces. I have had two students attend PYLUSD schools K-12. In high school one followed the traditional college prep curriculum and the other followed the Career Link Pathways in two areas Digital Media Arts Academy and Woodwork/Carpentry Tech. PYLUSD offers 9 unique Career Link Pathways from Culinary Arts to Medical Sciences to Business management and more. PYLUSD also offers many options for the various ways students and families choose to learn. Traditional in classroom learning, accredited homeschool and virtual Online/Hybrid learning. Parents have the choice to find the right fit for their student and family. As a parent volunteer in PYLUSD for over 25 years I have always been impressed by the PYLUSD being proactive in leading in updating classroom technology, providing equity in resources across the district's 34 schools, and recruiting quality teachers and staff.... Read 136 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $100,712

• Burbank, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.17 out of 5  138 reviews

Senior: Overall, Burbank Unified School District is fairly diverse and offers strong academic programs and opportunities for students interested in various fields. However, the district's administration can be difficult to work with, especially for school clubs, which often have to go through unnecessary bureaucracies when trying to access their finances, coordinate trips, etc. The majority of administrators within schools are also not interested in working to improve the school in any way. Administrators are often impatient, unresponsive, and difficult to coordinate with. Additionally, most teachers (especially those who teach high school) do not go above or beyond in their roles and simply do the bare minimum required, which impacts their students' performances in the classroom. There is also a shortage of well-trained teachers, which has left several classes in recent years saddled with substitute teachers who do not have adequate training to teach the grade levels they are assigned to.... Read 138 reviews

• grade A

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 24:1

• Average teacher salary $95,565

• Monrovia, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.2 out of 5  25 reviews

Junior: It is a very diverse place with good programs for practically anything you want to do. The Math and Science Academy is great for students more inclined for STEM while the Humanities Academy is great for English or History students. The Digital Studies Academy and Robotics teams are top notch. And all of our teachers are great.... Read 25 reviews

• grade A

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 22:1

• Average teacher salary $94,397

• Redlands, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.19 out of 5  155 reviews

Senior: The staff are welcoming and I had not experienced nor seen any bullying, or concerning situations in the halls or on campus. The campus was also very clean and the school I am in is very helpful in encouraging and introducing students to clubs and extracurricular activities to join. I would find it more helpful though if the counselors were more understanding of schedules and switching classes. For example, I recall freshman year when I had asked my counselor to switch my Spanish period to another time in the day other than last, because I was struggling to keep up as I missed the class every other week for swim meets. Yet I had not been allowed too. Distant Learning wise, I would prefer the teachers to push me more and be more strict, I find myself losing motivation to put first my best effort on assignments and in situations of participating in class discussions or teachings. Especially because my grade is not affected as much for if I had not been participating in class in person.... Read 155 reviews

• grade A

• grade A

• Student-teacher ratio 22:1

• Average teacher salary $94,212

• Los Alamitos, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.38 out of 5  99 reviews

Senior: I have been in the Los Alamitos district since 1st grade as an out of district student, and I've noticed the district is mostly made of out of district kids. Without us, there would only be a fraction of students currently attending. People come from various counties and drives all to this college prep school and I agree that it is worth it. The schools encourage students to take courses from many many choices to cultivate an education the student could enjoy. The staff and educators are all supportive, kind, helpful, and experienced. The only complaint I have is the slight ignorance in the surrounding community, the best example is from the recent addition of ethnic studies into our curriculum of the high school. There was many protests from parents who assumed the class would be "anti-white" and mirrored the behavior onto some students. In this first year, there were posters for ethnic studies vandalized and torn down overnight with little to no investigation or consequence.... Read 99 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $113,597

• Hermosa Beach, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 5 out of 5  7 reviews

Parent: I am very proud of our schools in Hermosa. My two sons have a combined 16 years in the Hermosa school system. My oldest son said his Hermosa educational experience fully prepared him for his first year in high school. My 5th grader continues to thrive academically and loves the STEAM programs. I gravitate to the strong sense of community at our schools with the active parent involvement. The amazing and caring teachers and staff have always set our school apart. With the recent development of the new school facilities, HBSCD is truly The Best Little Beach School!... Read 7 reviews

• grade A

• grade A+

• Student-teacher ratio 21:1

• Average teacher salary $99,553

• Walnut, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.24 out of 5  86 reviews

Senior: Being a student in the Walnut Valley Unified School District, I can say that this school achieves almost every category at the most average level. Now WVUSD does have some excellent aspects like its strive for education, its access to resources, and almost overwhelming involvement of presence has made going to school in this district a great thing. Sadly there are many things that it lacks, for example, diversity. The WVUSD has a very strong Asian American presence with them outnumbering other students 4-1. Other things include underfunded facilities and a lack of college readiness preparation.... Read 86 reviews

• grade A+

• grade A minus

• Student-teacher ratio 24:1

• Average teacher salary $94,355

• Downey, CA•

• School District

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  Rating 4.5 out of 5  135 reviews

Senior: Downey Unified is a diverse school district that constantly strives for perfection in all aspects of school including; sports, academics, and safety. I have attended Downey schools my whole life and am astonished by how professionally the administration handles all complaints. Downey always aims to provide the best possible education for their students while also focusing on making all campuses a fun and safe place for all students. Sports and extra curricular are also prioritized and encouraged alongside academics. Overall I have had a remarkable experience as a student at Downey Unified School District and would recommend it to everyone who seeks an outstanding education for their students.... Read 135 reviews

• grade A minus

• grade A minus

• Student-teacher ratio 25:1

• Average teacher salary $110,550