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Education Sep 29, 2023
Arcadia Unified graduates. | Photo courtesy of AUSD
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The Arcadia Unified School District has been named the Best School District in all of Los Angeles, fourth Best School District in California, and is in the top 40 Best School Districts in the U.S., according to Niche’s newly released 2024 rankings. These rankings have also seen Arcadia Unified listed as LA County’s second best place to teach and ranked fifth among districts with the best teachers, earning an overall A+ grade and honors as an elite school district in the nation.
“As a parent, resident, and school board president in Arcadia Unified, I am so grateful to see the collective and inspiring efforts of everyone from all areas of our district celebrated through this humbling distinction,” Arcadia Unified’s 2023-24 Board of Education President Shirley Yee said.
After a rigorous analysis of comprehensive data sets for nearly 100 school districts in the Los Angeles area, over 500 districts in California, and almost 11,000 public school districts across the country, Niche, a prominent school and neighborhood review website, found that Arcadia Unified is continuing to make the grade, achieving an overall A+ score and A grades in the categories of academics, teachers, clubs and activities, college prep, resources and facilities, and administration.
“Earning a spot at the top in rankings like this is a direct reflection of the unparalleled dedication of our educators, staff, counselors, parents, administrators, and community members, who partner with one another every day to ensure our students have access to a world-class learning experience that places mental health and wellness at the forefront and includes ample opportunities for engagement in the arts, athletics, and activities to help create well-rounded, lifelong learners.”
In addition to its detailed data analysis, Niche parses over 100 million reviews and survey responses to reach its annual rankings.
“We recently started the exciting and in-depth process of creating a new Facilities Master Plan,” Arcadia Unified Superintendent Dr. David Vannasdall shared.
“It’s distinctions like this that fuel the fire for this important work by reminding us that to build our future with the leaders our world needs, we need to ensure our buildings, campuses, and facilities are state-of-the-art, safe, innovative spaces that match the top-tier teaching and learning happening across every single one of our campuses. Arcadia Unified being named the best school district in the greater Los Angeles area is incredible, and then to think Arcadia Unified is one of the best school districts in the country, ranked in the top 40 out of thousands of excellent districts, I’m just so proud of our entire community.”
On top of its noteworthy Niche recognition, all six of Arcadia Unified’s elementary schools and its alternative learning program, Rancho Learning Center, earned concurrent recognition by the California Department of Education as 2023 California Distinguished Schools. Arcadia Unified’s Foothills Middle School was also honored by the U.S. Department of Education in 2023 as a National Blue Ribbon School. Likewise, the district’s comprehensive high school, Arcadia High, saw its Class of 2023 achieve a 100% graduation rate.
