Niche.com Ranks Mt. Diablo Unified Among Most Diverse School Districts

CONCORD, CA -- As the 2017-18 school year kicks off, parents and students heading to their first day of school can see how the Mt. Diablo Unified School District stacks up against others in Contra Costa County and the state of California as Niche.com has released its annual rankings of best schools and school districts in the country.

The 2018 rankings released this month rank elementary, middle and high schools as well as school districts.

The Mt. Diablo Unified School District received an overall B- grade from Niche, earning an A+ in diversity; an A- grades in college prep; B grades in teachers and sports; a B- grade in academics; a C+ in administration; a C grade in food; C- grades in clubs and activities and health and safety; and a D- grade in resources and facilities.

Niche considers Mt. Diablo Unified the 23rd-most diverse district in the state and the 228th when it comes to having the best teachers.

To arrive at these rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data and ratings collected from Niche users. The methodology for each category of ranking varied. (Click here for more information on how Niche calculates its rankings.)

Niche assigns a standardized score for each factor, which is then weighted before an overall score is calculated for each school district. The overall scores are again standardized and some districts are disqualified from receiving a final letter grade if there isn’t enough data. School districts are then ranked numerically and assigned grades.

According to Niche, these are the four best school districts in Contra Costa County:

1. Acalanes Union High School District, Lafayette (Overall Niche grade of A+)
2. San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Danville (Overall Niche grade of A+)
3. Liberty Union High School District, Brentwood (Overall Niche grade of B)
4. Martinez Unified School District, Sunnyvale (Overall Niche grade of B)

Niche’s data for its K-12 school district rankings comes from various sources including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection. The rankings also rely on data that is self-reported by Niche users and schools. (Click here to learn more about where Niche’s data comes from.)

• ALSO SEE: Mt. Diablo School Calendar 2017-18: First Day Of School, Vacations, Conferences

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

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