Best Private Schools in the Bay Area – 2023
The Bay Area is home to an extraordinary number of excellent private schools. Whether you are looking for a school in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, or anywhere in between, there is no shortage of terrific options. Of course, your decision-making process will need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations. College Transitions’ list of the Best Bay Area private schools will focus primarily on our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job that each of the schools fares at sending their graduates on to the region/nation’s premier 4-year schools.
Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in the Bay Area list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource. All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top colleges in the country. For each of the best private high schools in the Bay Area, College Transitions will provide you with each school’s:
- Location
- Tuition (9-12)
- Enrollment (9-12)
- Average SAT Score
- Average ACT Score
- Senior Class Size
- College Admissions Highlights
- Academic Highlights
Without further ado, let’s look at the best private schools in the Bay Area.
1) The Harker School
Location: 4525 Union Ave, San Jose, CA 95124
Tuition (9-12): $56,650
Enrollment (seniors): 192
Average SAT Score: 1498
Average ACT Score: 33
College Admissions Highlights:
From 2020-2022, numerous grads have attended USC (28), Stanford (27), CMU (26), UC Berkeley (20), UCLA (18), UMich (17), Columbia (15), Penn (13), Harvard (12), and WashU (10).
Academic Highlights:
- 15 computer science programs are offered.
- 92% scored a 4 or better on AP tests.
- 28 AP courses are offered.
- There are 67 National Merit Semifinalists in this year’s class.
- The mean GPA was 4.12 in the Class of 2023.
2) Bellarmine College Preparatory
Location: 960 W Hedding St, San Jose, CA 95126
Tuition (9-12): $24,890
Enrollment (9-K-12): 1,648
Average SAT Score: 1323
Average ACT Score: 30
College Admissions Highlights:
2021 graduates are now attending all of the UC institutions, Boston College, Georgetown, Pomona, Amherst, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Harvard, MIT, University of Michigan, UVA, Williams, and Yale.
Academic Highlights:
- In 2021, the school produced 16 National Merit Semifinalists and 41 Commended Scholars.
- 99% immediately enrolled in a 4-year college.
- 55% of AP test-takers score a 4 or 5.
- They offer 19 AP courses as well as 11 Honors courses.
- 50% attend college out-of-state.
3) Castilleja School
Location: 1310 Bryant St, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Tuition (9-12): $56,500
Enrollment (9-12): 238
Average SAT Score: 1460
Average ACT Score: 33
College Admissions Highlights:
In 2022 alone, graduates went on to enroll in Boston College, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, NYU, Northwestern, Pomona, Princeton, Stanford, Tufts, UChicago, Penn, USC, and Yale.
Academic Highlights:
- This is an all-girls institution.
- 80% of faculty possess advanced degrees.
- The average class size is 14.
- 78% score a 4 or 5 on AP tests.
- The median unweighted GPA is 3.93.
4) The College Preparatory School
Location: 6100 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94618
Tuition (9-12): $51,990
Enrollment (9-12): 370
Average SAT Score: 1513
Median ACT Score: 34
College Admissions Highlights:
The most popular destinations for recent graduates (2018-22) include: UChicago (42), Georgetown (14), Tulane (14), NYU (13), UCLA (13), Northwestern (12), BU (11), Stanford (10), Duke (9), Carleton (8), Harvard (8), and Penn (8),
Academic Highlights:
- An incredible 43% of the Class of 2022 received National Merit recognition.
- 60% of students play team sports.
- The average class size is 14 students.
- 86% of teachers have advanced degrees.
- 69% of students identify as students of color.
5) Crystal Springs Uplands School
Location: 400 Uplands Dr, Hillsborough, CA 94010
Tuition (9-12): $56,620
Enrollment (6-12): 569
Average SAT Score: 1442
Average ACT Score: 33
College Admissions Highlights:
Over the last four years, college acceptances include Amherst, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Colby, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Macalester, MIT, Middlebury, NYU, Northwestern, Pomona, Rice, Stanford, Swarthmore, Tufts, UChicago USC, Wesleyan, and Yale.
Academic Highlights:
- This school has only a 22% acceptance rate.
- The average teacher has 17 years of experience.
- The average class size is 14 students.
- 82% of the faculty hold advanced degrees.
- 9:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
6) Head-Royce School
Location: 4315 Lincoln Ave, Oakland, CA 94602
Tuition (9-12): $51,000
Enrollment (9-12): 385
Average SAT Score: Not Reported
Average ACT Score: Not Reported
College Admissions Highlights:
In one recent five-year stretch, the following number of students enrolled in prominent universities: UCLA (17), USC (15), Northeastern (13), WashU (11), Emory (11), Claremont McKenna (10), Brown (9), UChicago (9), Penn (7), and UMich (7).
Academic Highlights:
- 83% of faculty members hold advanced degrees.
- They offer a 4-year computer science curriculum.
- 60% consider themselves students of color.
- The average teacher has 12 years of experience.
- The Class of 2022 included 6 National Merit Semifinalists
7) Menlo School
Location: 50 Valparaiso Ave, Atherton, CA 94027
Tuition (9-12): $55,900
Enrollment (9-12): 537
Average SAT Score: 1447
Average ACT Score: 33
College Admissions Highlights:
Over the last four years, students have gone on to enter some of the nation’s top colleges including Bates (4), Brown (7), Cornell (10), Duke (12), Harvard (6), Northwestern (10), Princeton (5), Stanford (23), UC Berkeley (15), UCLA (11), Penn (6), USC (5), Wake Forest (6), WashU (9), Williams (3), and Yale (5).
Academic Highlights:
- The Class of 2023 included 12 National Merit Semifinalists.
- 75% of teachers hold advanced degrees.
- The average GPA earned is 3.81.
- 10:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
- 40 advanced courses are offered.
8) The Branson School
Location: 39 Fernhill Ave, Ross, CA 94957
Tuition (9-12): $55,970
Enrollment (seniors): 73
Mid-50% SAT Score: 1340-1510
Mid-50% ACT Score: 30-34
College Admissions Highlights:
Two or more students from the Classes of 2020-2022 went on to matriculate into UCLA (13), Stanford (11), Brown (9), Middlebury (9), Tufts (8), UC Berkeley (6), Penn (5), WashU (5), Duke (5), Dartmouth (4), Georgetown (4), NYU (4), and Yale (3).
Academic Highlights:
- 42% are students of color.
- 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
- The average class size is 13.
- Most faculty members earned advanced degrees.
- Admission is highly-selective.
9) The Nueva School
Location: 6565 CA-35, Hillsborough, CA 94010
Tuition (9-12): $55,750
Enrollment (seniors): 114
Mid-50% SAT Score: 1480-1570
Mid-50% ACT Score: 33-35
College Admissions Highlights:
Multiple students from 2017-2021 matriculated into Stanford (45), UChicago (28), UC Berkeley (16), Tufts (12), Brown (11), UMich (9), Princeton (8), Columbia (7), Northwestern (7), Carnegie Mellon (7), Penn (7), Yale (6), MIT (6), Olin College of Engineering (5), and Wellesley (5).
Academic Highlights:
- 57% are students of color.
- The average class size is 16 students.
- 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
- 100% are admitted to 4-year colleges.
- 48% of the Class of 2021 received National Merit recognition.
10) The Quarry Lane School
Location: 6363 Tassajara Rd, Dublin, CA 94568
Tuition (9-12): $45,254
Enrollment (K-12): 950
Average SAT Score: Not Reported
Average ACT Score: Not Reported
College Admissions Highlights:
In recent years, Quarry Lane grads entered schools such as: Barnard, BU, Brown, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, UMich, NYU, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, Swarthmore, the US Military Academy, WashU, and Wellesley.
Academic Highlights:
- The average class size is 18 students.
- 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
- 25 IB and 20 AP courses are offered.
- 70% of faculty members possess advanced degrees.
- 36 countries are represented in the student body.
We hope you found our blog on private schools in the Bay Area to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.


Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
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