Malibu High School

30215 Morning View Drive

School District

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 12, 2023

The teachers, staff and parents are welcoming, inclusive and easy to communicate with. Truly the best choice for our kids. The academics are outstanding. The student population is fairly small which means everyone knows everyone. The only downside to that is that the sports teams and theater often have to do with less participants than the larger urban schools.
Submitted by student on December 25, 2022

I know many people might be thinking Oh my god its Malibu high school, a bunch of rich wealthy kiddos go here. Its true if im going to be honest, but its just a regular school. Bad teachers and everything. The school provides a good amount of work to do on your own time. I wasn't as wealthy as some of my friends, for example i didnt show up to school in a Bugatti or Porsche, but a normal car. And the reason why im stating this is because many kids that go here somehow feel ashamed they dont have the most expensive stuff like other people who attended this school. This detracts them from learning and gives them a bad taste of sociability skills. Since Malibu or Beverly hills is named to be one of the wealthiest areas, most kids want to feel on top. I just think if you attend this school just focus on learning and stop caring if your house,car, etc isn't as good as your classmates. At the end no one cares and im writing this to whoever might see this just to say truly no one cares.
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2021

EhhhhhhJust a normal school nothing special.
Submitted by parent on October 01, 2018

This school is physically being rebuilt...It's going to look amazing. I have two children that are going through right now and I'm glad to see that the rebuilding process is on track. malibu will soon be its own school district, this coupled with the fantastic parent participation will make this school truly exceptional. Malibu has always been a town that many strive to live in, move here and you'll never leave...its that nice!
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2018

I am a parent at the school and my child is in high school. We spent all the years here from the start of middle school until current high school grade. The leadership at the school is ever changing, unstable and ineffective. There is rampant bullying at the school with kids ghosting other kids to the point of complete social alienation. This is a very dangerous trend and nobody cares. People you've known all your life don't even say high to you after spending a life together at school. Where on earth are you supposed to make friends if not at school and at school sports? The reason for this is perceived (I refuse to say rich because there people aren't, but like to portray this image) social status and Instagram popularity. The quality of the teaching is questionable for the most part in high school, although there are a handful of very nice teachers that have been there a long time. Parents are a whole other story - they spent 3 years suing the school, to obtain celebrity status, and after losing the lawsuit, and wasting $5M of tax payer's school funding money, they now cut ribbons and gift school with water fountains. $5 wasted millions could have bought a lot of those! School sports are also a joke. Never seen so many sports coaches that are just not interested in sports. Avoid the whole place like a plague. Truly awful.
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2015

I give this school two stars because it has some truly excellent teachers, particularly in the history department, and many terrific kids and families that make this a very supportive environment. The school prides itself on high test scores, but it works the kids very, very hard to be able to boast that. There's a lot of teaching to the test. And some aspects of the administration are deeply problematic. The combined middle/high school is about to get its fourth principal in five years, and the way the district has been handling an ongoing contamination problem on campus has caused many dedicated, longtime families to withdraw their kids. More than 40 seventh graders left last year. I hope this school pulls it together soon because it has a lot of potential and a solid past, but the present state of affairs on campus is pretty troubling.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2015

I could not be more disappointed, disheartened, and downright disgusted with what is going on at our school. The PCB contamination issue and the way in which it has been (mis)handled is truly appalling. I had to dis-enroll my two children this year and take them away from the friends they've grown up with, simply to ensure that they are not exposed to these toxicants. I've had to find alternative schooling for them. Many other families have done the same. MHS should be a great school. It's such a shame that it fails in the basics - caring about the health of our students and staff.
Submitted by teacher on April 26, 2015

Malibu MS/HS provides an excellent learning opportunity for it's students. The school has an exceptional, caring staff and works hard to promote an environment that is both academically challenging and emotionally balanced.
Submitted by parent on April 09, 2015

I am a student and I recently had to switch schools because of PCB contaminated classrooms. I left all my friends I had been going to school with since kindergarten. I would like to be able to go back To my community school but with three teachers getting cancer the risk is too high. When i switched to a new school I was pretty much shocked when I found myself learning Spanish, taking up a new sport and doing extra curricular activities. I hope this school gets PCB's cleaned up, remodeled and better teachers....FAST.
Submitted by parent on April 09, 2015

PCBs at extraordinarily high levels have been found at MHS and my child has been unnecessarily exposed. Schools on the East coast quickly identify and removed PCBs when found but it has been 18 months and the district plans to leave them in place despite their toxic nature. In addition to the toxic school, the district this year has enacted a centralized funding program. Which means PTA cannot raise money to and pay for programs unique to their school. Last month, the Superintendent sent an email to parents threatening that if they do not donate $2 million then art programs and aides will be cut from the schools, yet she has spent over $2 million on lawyers for herself. What could be an incredible place to raise and educate children is simply dangerous and poorly run.
Submitted by parent on April 09, 2015

I am very disappointed in the school and its administrators. They are unconcerned with and unresponsive to the concerns of the student body and parents.
Submitted by parent on April 09, 2015

My children have attended this school for 3 years. The Malibu schools are run by the Santa Monica, not by Malibu. In 2009, the district found PCBs in the soil and did not tell the parents. In 2011, the district removed 1150 cubic yards of and did not tell parents. In 2013, after 3 teachers were diagnosed with thyroid cancer the district tested and found PCBs at illegal levels. The district won t test other classrooms. PCBs are carcinogenic & were banned by Congress in 1976. PCBs have been found at MHS at levels 11,000 times the legal health limit. Many of my children s friends have left the school and my child is being taught with a group of others who have left the school. My kids are sad to not be with their friends, and when we asked for portable units so our kids could stay together, the district refused. This could all have been fixed by now, sadly, the district has not put kids safety first.
Submitted by parent on April 09, 2015

My son was at MHS last year and very pleased with the program and had made many friends. However, PCBs were discovered in school and after researching the hazards of exposure to this material, we had to pull our child reluctantly out of MHS and find an alternative school.
Submitted by student on April 09, 2015

I attended Malibu High School from Middle School up until after the beginning of 10th grade this year. The most positive things about the school are some of the great teachers, in particular I had great English teachers. Where the school needs to improve is the facilities. Some of the facilities are very, very old and in fact were in plan to be rebuilt years ago but that has not happened. Finally, these older buildings and classrooms were found by the school district to be contaminated with PCBs that have not yet been removed. I left the school recently due to the PCBs and hope that the district fixes this problem soon as my school has the potential to be a really good school.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2015

My two daughters went to school here but we pulled them out when we discovered that the school district was not going to remove the PCB's at this school. My youngest has an immune comprimise and her doctor wanted me to get her out. My oldest did not want to deal with a stressful junior year and add additional stress of wondering wether her school environment could be making her sick so we pulled them the day before school starts. This is horrible for a school district to do this to kids and teachers
Submitted by student on April 07, 2015

I am a Middle School Student at Malibu High School. I love many of my teachers and my friends at the school. However I was sad this year when our previous principal, vice principal and some teachers left the school and our current principal is only supposed to be here for one year. I think that is too much change and not good for kids. I am also sad and concerned about the PCB contamination issue at our school that has now being going on last school year and this year and the PCBs are still in the building materials. And I am sad that many of my personal friends left the school last year and this year because of the PCBs. I am not 100% sure I am returning next year. Thank you Great Schools for this opportunity for freedom of speech for me as a kid to share what I like and also my concerns about my school.
Submitted by parent on April 07, 2015

This year Malibu High School lost some great administrators and teachers, which I think was a big loss to the school. I am also concerned about the PCB issue that is ongoing at the school. This school has the potential to be good, but until the PCB issue is fully addressed I do not feel that it is a good environment. I have researched the issue at length and other schools are dealing with this issue more promptly by removing the PCBs and in some cases rebuilding the schools.
Submitted by parent on April 05, 2015

We had to pull out after 6th grade because of the lack of enthusiasm shown from some of the teachers and administrators and the PCB issue that has not been resolved a year and half later. It could become a great school if the SMMUSD actually spent the 30 million dollars allocated 9 years ago to remodeling the old buildings and put in place staff who are committed to the students.
Submitted by parent on April 04, 2015

I have had to pull my child out of the middle school due to the toxicity and lack of support of the removal of it. I have had my children in three different districts for school and by far this is the worst and most unresponsive distrct I have ever been in. They do not represent Malibu, they only represent Santa Monica. If you ask to talk to them about an important issue, they wait a year before they will put you on the agenda. I have never in my life or my childrens life felt so unsupported by a district and felt like they do not want what is best for the children in the school or the staff they are just politicians. That is so sad to me and disheartening.
Submitted by parent on April 04, 2015

Great community, terrible school district. This could be a great school but unfortunately it is far from it. For starters, the lack of attention and worse - the dishonesty and ignorance - regarding the serious PCB contamination problem forced us to take our daughter out of the school. She misses the great kids, many who have also left the school. Beyond that, the recent turnover of staff including teachers and principal leaves the school aimless. It's a very sad situation in a place that could be wonderful.