Original Research by School Decision on San Dimas High
San Dimas High is a mid-sized public high school serving grades nine through twelve in San Dimas, a suburban city in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. It is part of Bonita Unified School District and sits on a campus it shares with Lone Hill Middle School, a few blocks removed from the Western-themed downtown along Bonita Avenue.
The school's student body reflects the demographic character of the surrounding area. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment, followed by white and Asian students, with smaller populations identifying as Black or multiracial. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate level of economic need within the school. Data on English learner counts and students with IEPs were not available in this profile, so parents with children in those populations may want to contact the school directly.
On state assessments, performance is uneven across subjects. English language arts results are clearly above the midpoint, with a strong majority of students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations. Math falls to roughly the middle range, with less than half of students scoring proficient or above. Science results are the weakest of the three, with only about a third reaching proficiency. Because only a single year of data was available, trends over time cannot be assessed here. Parents who want to understand how specific grade levels or student groups perform, or whether any of these numbers have moved in recent years, would benefit from asking the school directly. Graduation rate data was not present in this profile.
Relative to districts in Los Angeles County, comparative positioning on proficiency, graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism could not be computed for this profile, as those measures were not available in this dataset at the school level in a form that allowed direct comparison.
Program offerings were not reported in the data provided, so this profile cannot speak to AP course availability, career technical education pathways, dual enrollment, or extracurricular depth. That is a meaningful gap for any family weighing whether the academic program matches a student's interests and ambitions, and it is worth exploring directly through the school's website or counseling office.
At the district level, two developments are worth knowing about. Bonita Unified recently placed a Proposition 39 facilities bond measure on the June 2026 ballot to fund a substantial list of repairs and upgrades across all school sites. If passed, it would add an annual cost to property tax bills for local homeowners for the life of the bonds, layered on top of two prior bonds that are still being paid down. The district has also begun offering ethnic studies courses in the current school year as part of a multi-year curriculum adoption process aligned with California's forthcoming statewide graduation requirement.
The housing market surrounding San Dimas High reflects the broader dynamics of Los Angeles County. Home values sit well above both the state median and the national median, and rental costs consume a large share of typical household income. The city is changing. A new Metro Gold Line station opened in late 2025, and publicly reported planning documents describe a transit-oriented development vision for the downtown core, with a meaningful housing rezoning obligation that the city intends to concentrate near the station. Families considering the area should expect some development activity in the coming years, particularly in and around downtown.
San Dimas itself reads as a quiet, owner-occupied suburban city with a distinctive identity: equestrian culture, mountain-adjacent neighborhoods, a walkable downtown that feels more like a small town than a Los Angeles suburb, and freeway access in multiple directions. The school reflects that community, a mid-sized neighborhood high school, solidly performing in English, with math and science results that leave room for growth.
See more original research from School Decision →