Costa Mesa High, Costa Mesa CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Costa Mesa High

Costa Mesa High serves grades 7 through 12 as a combined middle and high school campus in Costa Mesa, a mid-sized Orange County city shaped by postwar residential neighborhoods, modern mixed-use development, and local cultural anchors like the OC Fair and South Coast Plaza. The school sits at the heart of Newport-Mesa Unified School District, a community-funded district that derives most revenue from local property taxes rather than California's state funding formula, giving it a comparatively well-resourced per-pupil budget.

The student body is diverse and economically varied. About three-quarters of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is heavily Hispanic with smaller representations of white, Asian, and other backgrounds. Enrollment is stable across grades, with roughly equal class cohorts running from seventh grade through twelfth.

On state testing, proficiency levels are modest. In seventh-grade English language arts, about four in ten students met proficiency standards; by eighth grade, that rose to about half. Seventh-grade math proficiency was closer to one in four students, improving to roughly a third by eighth grade. Science proficiency in eighth grade sat at about one in three. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school in the bottom quartile among schools in Orange County's district universe. A parent looking at these numbers should ask the school directly about specific support structures for students not yet proficient: tutoring, after-school programs, summer intervention, and how the school targets skill gaps in math, where the gap is widest.

The district recently implemented a student cell phone ban across its middle schools using Yondr lockable pouches, a concrete daily policy change that affects classroom environment and focus. Separately, the district exhausted bond funding from its last voter-approved measure and commissioned a Facilities Master Plan to guide modernization of aging school buildings. No replacement bond has been approved, meaning facility improvements must come from the district's operating budget, a fact families should weigh when considering the condition and pace of campus updates.

Costa Mesa itself is undergoing significant residential densification, with large mixed-use projects converting commercial and industrial sites to housing to meet state housing mandates. The housing market is expensive; median home values are high and rents reflect premium pricing, though the area's diverse employment base—spanning information services, action sports apparel headquarters, and light manufacturing—offers economic breadth. The city has moderate walkability in defined neighborhoods and commercial corridors, good park and library access through Orange County Public Libraries, and some public transit via bus lines.

For families considering this school, the key question centers on academic support and intervention: given the proficiency gaps, particularly in math, what tutoring, skill-building, and progress-monitoring systems does the school have in place? The cell phone policy is a clear operational fact to understand. And for families concerned about facilities, the lack of a new bond cycle means checking directly on what campus improvements are planned and funded.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

97.0%Cohort of 270 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 45% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 45% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 58% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 58% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 36% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 65% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

This schoolNewport-Mesa Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 7Lower-income34%Higher-income67%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income73%34 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income45%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income54%30 pp gap