The Almaden Valley high school scored above 800 on its Academic Performance Index (API), which measures school performance on standardized tests. The other high schools to do so were Saratoga, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Gunn, Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Homestead.

Overall, county public schools beat the state average for meeting their growth targets on state standardized tests in 2004, according to Santa Clara County Office of Education. The figures reflect growth that schools made in the 2003-04 school year.

Forty-one percent of county schools reached the state API target score of 800, compared to 23 percent of schools statewide.

Fifty-two percent of county public schools met their API growth targets compared to 48 percent of schools statewide, said Dale Russell, the COE's director of standards and assessment.

According to the California Department of Education, 50 percent of county elementary schools reached their target API score as compared to 46 percent statewide; 55 percent of county middle schools--the same number as statewide--reached their target; and 57 percent of county high schools reached their target as compared to 49 percent statewide.