About Sonoma County Schools
Sonoma County is divided into 40 school districts for kindergarten through twelfth-grade (K-12) educational services. There are 31 elementary, 3 high school, and 6 unified districts. Unified districts operate both elementary and secondary schools for the students residing within their boundaries.
The smallest district in the county, Kashia, is located in a rural area and has 10 students. The largest district, Santa Rosa City High, enrolls over 11,000 students in the county’s most populous city. Twenty districts enroll less than 1,000 students; only five serve more than 5,000 students.
Although many districts are small in size, 71,688 students attend the 175 public schools that are located in Sonoma County. There are 102 elementary, 23 middle/junior high, and 19 high schools, as well as 24 alternative schools and 7 independent study schools. Fifty-one of these schools are charter schools. Seventy-seven Sonoma County schools have been named California Distinguished Schools and ten have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools.
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Enrollment in Sonoma County schools has been slowly decreasing since 2001, with some districts more impacted than others. This enrollment trend is not unique to Sonoma County; nearly half of all school districts in California are seeing enrollment declines.
Another enrollment trend in our county is the growing diversity of students in public schools. Today, 40 percent of students are Latino, 22 percent are in the process of learning English, and 43 percent receive free or reduced-price meals (an indicator of poverty). Approximately 12 percent of students receive special education services.
On all academic indicators – the state STAR tests, high school exit exam, Academic Performance Index (API), Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) – Sonoma County consistently scores above the state average and has shown positive growth over the years. See our Progress Reports page for more information about academic achievement in Sonoma County schools.
Spotlight on Sonoma County Schools | Aug 2012
SCOE opened the 2012-13 school year with this eight-page publication (pdf) showcasing some of the success stories in Sonoma County schools.
Additional Resources
The boxes at right provide additional resources about Sonoma County schools, including a school calendar summary, schools directory, and link to a county site to locate your school district based on the address of your residence. (For school boundary lines, please contact the applicable district directly.)
Statistical Report: Schools of Sonoma County, 2010-11
Each year, SCOE compiles attendance and financial information from all of the county’s school districts and charter schools. This information is provided in an annual Statistical Report (pdf). Included are data related to average daily attendance, district attendance trends, general fund revenue by district, beginning and ending fund balances, and income/expense per average daily attendance. Each year’s Statistical Report is released 6-8 months after the close of the fiscal year.
