Rancho Pico Junior High, Stevenson Ranch CA

Original Research by School Decision on Rancho Pico Junior High

Rancho Pico Junior High is a grades 7-8 public school in Stevenson Ranch, an unincorporated master-planned community in the Santa Clarita Valley just west of Interstate 5. The school sits on its own campus near West Ranch High School on Valencia Boulevard in the Westridge area, serving a school population of about that size split almost evenly between seventh and eighth graders.

The school's academic profile shows solid performance in English language arts and a meaningful gap in mathematics. In English language arts, students achieve well above half-proficiency in both grades. Mathematics proficiency drops from grade 7 to grade 8 and sits notably lower than ELA, a pattern many families see at the junior high level as students encounter more abstract and procedural content. Science proficiency in grade 8 is in the mid-range. When proficiency rates across tested subjects are averaged together, Rancho Pico ranks in the top quartile among all districts in Los Angeles County on this measure, meaning it performs better than most comparable schools in the region. The most recent social studies data available is from 2013 and therefore not a current indicator of performance. Only one year of state testing data was available at submission, so trend analysis could not be done.

The student body is diverse. Asian, white, and Hispanic students each represent meaningful shares of enrollment, with smaller numbers of Black students and students from other backgrounds. About one in seven students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a below-average rate for the county, which generally reflects the higher income level of Stevenson Ranch households. The school does not report English learner or special education enrollment counts, a data gap that makes it impossible to describe those student populations here.

Stevenson Ranch itself is a well-established suburban bedroom community developed primarily from the late 1980s through the mid-2000s, with ongoing infill projects such as Hillcrest, a large new single-family home development by Lennar now under construction in the foothills. The area is car-oriented; a car is essential to reach most destinations within and beyond the neighborhood. Parks and open space—including Jake Kuredjian Park, Pico Canyon Park with its stairs trail, and adjacent Santa Clarita Woodlands Park—anchor daily life alongside shopping centers and schools. The Stevenson Ranch Library, a full-service LA County Library branch that opened in 2024, is a newer civic amenity. Median home prices in the area are high; median rents are also high relative to regional income. The community's employment base is primarily retail, services, and health care, with many residents commuting to jobs elsewhere in Los Angeles County or beyond.

The school is part of William S. Hart Union High School District. In 2024, after retiring a long-standing mascot at Hart High School and replacing it with the Hawks, the district's major facilities bond from an earlier measure was fully expended with its oversight committee dissolved, meaning no dedicated new construction funding source is currently in place. A parent considering this school may want to look into the district's current and future facility plans directly with the school. Students from Rancho Pico typically feed into West Ranch High School for grades 9-12, which is located across the street and part of the same district.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 54% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 49% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 782%

School 82% · District 68% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 881%

School 81% · District 65% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Science

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 47% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 68% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

This schoolWilliam S. Hart Union High, 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-income70%Higher-income84%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income67%Higher-income83%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income52%Higher-income74%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income67%28 pp gap