October 22, 2026

Fremont & Marin High School Rankings 2026-27

By Sunny Grewal, Founder of StrivePath


US News released the 2026-27 Best High Schools rankings on August 18. Two Bay Area regions that don't usually get talked about together belong in the same conversation: Fremont and Marin. Fremont has Mission San Jose, which cracked California's top 10 this year. Marin has Redwood High School in Larkspur, one of the top 40 public high schools in the state. Both regions are consistent, both are underrated, and both are worth understanding if you're building a college list.


Quick methodology check. US News ranked about 18,000 public high schools nationally out of 27,000. Six factors: college readiness (30%, mostly AP participation and pass rates), state test scores (40% combined), curriculum breadth (10%), graduation rate (10%), underserved-student performance (10%). California had 1,678 schools ranked.


Mission San Jose is Fremont's headliner


Mission San Jose High School landed at #10 in California and #98 nationally. It moved up from #107 last year, making it one of just three Bay Area schools in the state top 10.


Mission is a highly selective feeder in a highly competitive Fremont Unified district. Its AP participation is among the highest in California and its graduation rate is 99%+. If your student is at Mission, they're competing against an academically intense peer pool. That's the reality of a school ranked that high.


American, Irvington, and Kennedy round out Fremont


American High School sits in the California top 50. Irvington High School  is right there with it. Kennedy High School rounds out the district.


Fremont Unified has some of the widest school-to-school variance of any Bay Area district. Mission and Kennedy operate at very different peer intensity levels. That's not a criticism. It's just the reality that where you live in Fremont determines which of these schools your kid attends, and the college readiness profile of each is very different.


Redwood High in Larkspur leads Marin


Redwood High School in Larkspur is #67 in California. It's one of the state's best public high schools and doesn't get talked about the way Bay Area feeders like Gunn and Mission SJ do. AP participation is high, graduation rate is 98%+, and the school regularly sends kids to UCs and elite privates.


Redwood is in Tamalpais Union High School District, which also runs Tam and Drake.


Tam and Drake


Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley sits in the California top 200. Archie Williams High School (previously Sir Francis Drake) is in the state top 400.


Tam is a big school with a rich AP roster and strong athletic and arts programs. Archie Williams runs smaller with a somewhat different peer culture. Both send kids to UCs at real rates.


Novato, San Marin, Terra Linda


Novato High School, San Marin High School, and Terra Linda High School round out northern Marin. All three are solid public options that regularly send kids to UCs and CSUs.


What this means for your college list


The Fremont story and the Marin story look different but land in the same place. Fremont's higher-ranked schools (Mission SJ, American, Irvington) run competitive peer environments. Marin's schools (Redwood, Tam, Drake) run slightly smaller and less academically intense but with strong college outcomes.


Where the rankings help:


1.  If you're deciding between Fremont Unified schools by neighborhood, the differences are real. Mission SJ, American, and Irvington are all strong but the peer pressure profile is intense. Understand that before you buy a house.

2. If you're relocating to Marin, Redwood and Tam are the two anchor schools. Both give your kid a rigorous option. The commute-to-work-in-SF factor probably matters more to your decision than the ranking difference between them.


Where they mislead:


1.  Marin schools rank lower than they perform on college outcomes. Redwood at #67 in California is legitimately excellent, but the ranking doesn't fully capture how well Marin schools do at placing kids at UCs and privates. The 2023-24 data year and the underserved-student weighting both work slightly against Marin's demographic profile.

2. Fremont schools at the top rank very high partly because AP participation is at ceiling levels. That's not automatically the right thing for every kid. It's just the metric.

3. A 20-spot shift inside the top 200 in California means almost nothing. All of these schools are above the 95th percentile nationally.


Explore the data



Ready to build your student's plan? 


StrivePath offers personalized academic and college advising for Bay Area students from 7th grade through senior year. Book a free consultation with our team today. 👉 mystrivepath.com: StrivePath: Happier students. Less stressed families. Better admission outcomes.


Sources

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