Original Research by School Decision on Half Moon Bay High
Half Moon Bay High sits at the end of a single road leading into a small coastal town, drawing students from across the Cabrillo Unified district's communities: Half Moon Bay itself plus Moss Beach, Montara, and El Granada. Every student in the district who passes through elementary school and Cunha Middle converges here for grades nine through twelve, making it the one high school for a stretch of San Mateo County coastline roughly 25 miles south of San Francisco.
The school's enrollment is sized appropriately for the community it serves, with classes distributed fairly evenly across all four grade levels. The student body is majority Hispanic, with a substantial white population and small numbers of Asian, multiracial, and Black students. Roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects a real economic range in a town where housing costs sit at extraordinary levels relative to most of California and the country.
State testing data for the most recent year shows that fewer than half of students tested at grade-level proficiency in English Language Arts, and a smaller fraction reached that threshold in math, with science falling in between. Only one year of data is available in this dataset, so trend direction cannot be assessed. The proficiency figures are below what many parents in a high-cost area like this might expect, and a parent would do well to ask the school directly about course-level outcomes, particularly for college-preparatory tracks, rather than relying on school-wide averages alone. Chronic absenteeism data and graduation rate data were not available in the comparison set, so a fuller picture of student success and completion rates is missing here.
Program information was not provided in the data, so specifics about AP offerings, dual enrollment, or career pathways are a genuine gap in this account. Publicly reported information indicates the district's November 2024 parcel tax, Measure N, specifically names STEAM programs and college and career preparation as funded priorities, which suggests those areas are at least part of the district's stated direction. Whether that translates to robust course access at the high school level is something families should confirm directly.
Two voter-approved measures from November 2024 will affect any family buying property in the district. A general obligation bond earmarked for facility improvements, including infrastructure, accessibility upgrades, early-education classrooms, and a notable share for employee housing, adds a long-term charge to local property tax bills. A separate parcel tax replaced an earlier levy at a higher annual per-parcel rate, running for several years and funding the general fund. Both passed, and both are real costs to factor into a housing decision. The housing market itself is one of the most expensive in California, with typical home values far above the state median and vastly above the national one, and estimated mortgage costs at current rates that would consume a substantial share of income for most households.
On the labor side, the district publicly reported in early 2026 that it reached three-year contracts with both its teachers' union and classified staff union, described as the first multi-year agreements in district memory and a break from years of near-strike conditions. That stability is real, though the district continues to project deficit spending, which is a financial context worth watching.
The town itself is a genuine small coastal place with a working Main Street, seasonal agricultural and fishing heritage, walkable blocks of older commercial buildings, and a state beach within easy reach. Civic life is modest but present: a county library branch with a teen room and makerspace, a park used for community events, bus service via SamTrans connecting to the broader Bay Area though without rail nearby. The city is actively pursuing affordable housing development concentrated near its town center, a process constrained by coastal oversight and the kinds of limits on growth that tend to define small towns in this part of California.
Data on IEP rates, English learner populations, staffing levels, and attendance were not available, leaving meaningful gaps in the picture of student support services at this school.
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