A Lake County school district can post a four-year graduation rate above 98% and still receive a C+ overall from Niche. That’s a report card worth reading past the first letter.
Niche’s 2027 Lake County, California, listing, its latest available edition, includes five districts with verifiable overall grades. They range from C+ to D+, reflecting differences in evaluations that combine academics, teachers, resources, extracurricular opportunities and family feedback.
A tie expands this examination from three districts to five. Konocti receives a D+, Upper Lake receives a C, and three districts share a C+. Selecting only one of those C+ districts would arbitrarily exclude the other two.
Consequently, this article covers every district in Niche’s county listing—including the three sharing its highest grade. We begin with those C+ districts, presented alphabetically because they are tied, then move toward the lowest overall grade.
Kelseyville Unified School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+, tied
Kelseyville’s C+ overall grade comes with considerably stronger evaluations for teachers, diversity and college preparation.
The district serves Kelseyville and surrounding communities, including Soda Bay and the Riviera area. It enrolled approximately 1,820 students in 2024–25, with about 20 students per teacher.
Niche’s profile gives diversity an A−, college preparation a B+, and teachers a B. Academics receive a C+, resources and facilities a B−, and administration a C.
State assessment results show approximately 25% of students tested met or exceeded English language arts standards in 2024–25, compared with 14% in math. Its four-year graduation rate for the class of 2025 was 90.4%.
That combination gives families distinct questions to explore: how students receive academic intervention, how college preparation works, and how the district supports students through graduation.
Lakeport Unified School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+, tied
Lakeport supplies the article’s most striking graduation figure: a 98.3% four-year graduation rate for the class of 2025.
Serving Lakeport and surrounding areas, the district enrolled approximately 1,362 students in 2024–25, with about 18 students per teacher—the lowest staffing ratio among the five districts featured here.
Its Niche profile awards an A− for diversity, a B+ for college preparation, and a B for teachers. Academics receive a C+, resources and facilities a B−, and administration a C.
State testing shows approximately 22% of students tested met or exceeded English language arts standards and 15% met or exceeded math standards in 2024–25.
Those assessment percentages and the graduation rate describe different student populations and outcomes. Both deserve attention; neither should be used as a shortcut for explaining the other.
Middletown Unified School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+, tied
Middletown shares the same overall grade as Kelseyville and Lakeport, but its category grades tell a noticeably different story.
Serving Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and Cobb Mountain communities, the district enrolled approximately 1,453 students in 2024–25, with about 20 students per teacher.
Niche awards Middletown B+ grades for college preparation and diversity, a B− for academics, and a C for teachers. Resources and facilities receive a D+, while administration receives a D−.
Approximately 47% of students tested met or exceeded English language arts standards in 2024–25, and 34% met or exceeded math standards. Both percentages are the highest among these five districts. Its class-of-2025 four-year graduation rate was 85.6%.
The favorable academic comparison provides useful context alongside the lower resource and administration grades. It does not break the overall C+ tie.
Upper Lake Unified School District — Overall Niche Grade: C
Upper Lake’s overall C sits alongside B+ grades for resources and facilities and food. Its academic evaluation is less favorable.
Serving Upper Lake and surrounding northern Lake County communities, the district enrolled approximately 933 students in 2024–25, with about 20 students per teacher.
The district’s Niche profile gives diversity an A−, teachers a B−, administration a C+, and academics a C−.
Approximately 19% of students tested met or exceeded English language arts standards in 2024–25, while 14% met or exceeded math standards. Its four-year graduation rate for the class of 2025 was 92.1%.
Those findings give families a concrete starting point for conversations about reading and math support. The stronger resource and graduation figures belong in that discussion, too, while offering no simple explanation for the proficiency results.
Konocti Unified School District — Overall Niche Grade: D+
Konocti receives the lowest overall Niche grade in Lake County’s listing, with academic results that warrant close attention.
The district serves Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Lower Lake, Spring Valley and part of Cobb Mountain. It enrolled approximately 3,986 students in 2024–25, with about 23 students per teacher—the highest staffing ratio among the districts featured here.
Niche’s profile gives diversity a B and teachers a C+. Academics and resources and facilities receive C− grades, while administration receives a D+.
State assessment results show approximately 20% of students tested met or exceeded English language arts standards in 2024–25, compared with 9% in math. Its class-of-2025 four-year graduation rate was 84.6%.
The math results make intervention an important subject for families to investigate. These figures alone cannot establish why students struggled or assign responsibility to particular people.
Where the numbers come from
Enrollment and staffing figures come from National Center for Education Statistics records for 2024–25. Student-teacher ratios are rounded districtwide staffing measures, rather than the size of every classroom.
Academic percentages are rounded from California’s 2024–25 Smarter Balanced research files. They describe students meeting or exceeding standards across tested grades. “Reading” refers here to English language arts and literacy.
Graduation figures come from the California Department of Education’s 2024–25 School Accountability Report Card data and describe district four-year cohort rates. These dated state figures are separate from the graduation averages displayed on Niche’s profiles.
This comparison follows Niche’s five county listings. It does not encompass every public district or education provider serving Lake County.
How Niche calculates its grades
Under Niche’s published 2027 methodology, academics account for 50% of the overall evaluation and teachers account for 15%. Culture and diversity, and parent/student surveys about overall experience, each contribute 12.5%.
Resources and facilities contribute 5%, while clubs and activities and sports contribute 2.5% each. Several categories combine statistics with survey responses, so standardized tests influence the grade without determining it entirely.
Administration and food appear as separate profile grades but are not listed as standalone weighted factors in the current overall methodology.
This article compares overall letter grades. Numerical rankings, webpage order and differences in individual statistics do not override a tie in those grades.
What families should take from the grades
Lake County’s report cards contain academic challenges alongside favorable evaluations of teachers, college preparation, diversity and resources. The overall letters compress those differences considerably.
Niche represents one organization’s assessment. Receiving a comparatively low county grade does not, by itself, establish poor statewide performance or describe every school and student experience. Enrollment, demographics, available programs and individual needs all matter when interpreting the results.
Families can use the findings to ask practical questions: How quickly do struggling readers receive help? What math support is available? Which advanced courses can students take? How does the school keep students on track for graduation?
A district’s most useful report card may be the conversation those questions start.
