On this page
Menlo-Atherton High School, known locally as M-A, is the public high school just across San Francisquito Creek from Palo Alto. The campus is at 555 Middlefield Road in Atherton, about 1.3 miles from downtown Palo Alto in a straight line. It belongs to the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD), which runs the public high schools for much of southern San Mateo County.
M-A matters to Palo Alto readers for a few reasons. Its attendance area takes in much of Menlo Park, Atherton and East Palo Alto. Families house hunting near the county line often compare it with Paly. And it is the nearest big public campus for anyone who works in Palo Alto but lives in San Mateo County. This page covers boundaries, the 2027 to 2028 enrollment calendar, programs, sports and state data. We do not repeat commercial rankings.
The school at a glance
M-A serves grades 9 to 12. The California Department of Education counted 2,152 students on Census Day in 2025 to 2026, second in the Sequoia district only to Carlmont High in Belmont (2,385). The school's own page says it serves around 2,100 students. The principal listed on the school's administration page in November 2026 is Karl Losekoot.
Wikipedia dates the school to 1951. Its motto is "Strength in Diversity," and the student publications are the M-A Chronicle and The Mark. The school's about page says M-A was named a California Distinguished School in 1986, 2007 and 2013. It also describes a park-like campus in a residential neighborhood and strong parent involvement, along with three local construction bonds passed in 2001, 2004 and 2007.
The schedule
M-A runs a modified block schedule, according to its site. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays have seven 50-minute periods. Wednesdays have three 95-minute periods and Thursdays four. Most students take six courses. Students in support programs such as AVID or the Computer Academy take seven.
Attendance areas
SUHSD assigns each student to a home school by address. The district's School Site Locator, linked from its open enrollment page, gives the answer for any street address. Wikipedia lists three feeder middle schools for M-A:
- Hillview Middle School in the Menlo Park City School District.
- La Entrada Middle School in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District.
- Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in the Ravenswood City School District, which serves East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven area of Menlo Park.
The district redrew its boundaries effective in 2015 to 2016. Its boundary exceptions page lets some families keep the older assignments. Students in the North Fair Oaks area known as "The Avenues" (bounded by Middlefield Road, Edison Way and Eighth Avenue) who are inside the M-A area may ask to attend Sequoia High instead. Students who came through the Tinsley voluntary transfer program can ask to attend the same high school as their middle school classmates, if space allows.
The Palo Alto line
Palo Alto addresses belong to PAUSD. The catch is the 94303 ZIP code east of Highway 101, where some homes carry a Palo Alto mailing address but sit in East Palo Alto or unincorporated county land in the Sequoia district. Our school boundaries guide explains how to check. East Palo Alto students may also attend PAUSD schools through the Tinsley program, covered in our transfers guide.
Enrollment and transfers for 2027 to 2028
All incoming ninth graders start with SUHSD's online registration. The district's published annual timeline:
- October 15: priority online registration opens. Any open enrollment request is made as part of the same application.
- February 1: deadline for open enrollment and boundary exception requests.
- February 5, 1 p.m.: a public drawing by video conference, held only for schools with more requests than seats. Attendance is not required and families do not learn results at the drawing.
- First week of March: approval letters go out. Unapproved requests go on a waitlist.
- April 30: the waitlist expires. The district does not send letters to waitlisted families who were not approved.
Approval is lottery based and not guaranteed. A granted transfer makes the new school the student's home school. It cannot be undone. Families provide their own transportation. Sibling priority applies only when a sibling is enrolled at the school in the year requested. There is no appeal process.
SUHSD also runs East Palo Alto Academy, a smaller district high school (245 students in the 2025 to 2026 CDE count) that families can request through the same open enrollment form.
Programs
M-A's about page describes a broad course list with seventeen Advanced Placement courses, ranging from biology and environmental science to Latin, art history and computer science. Electives include visual and performing arts, industrial arts and media arts. A Digital Media Arts facility with video production and photography classrooms opened in 2012.
Support programs listed by the school include AVID, Compass, the Honors Institute, the Computer Academy and ninth and tenth grade support classes in math and English. Note that parts of the about page date from earlier years. Check the current course catalog before choosing classes.
Athletics
The Bears compete in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) in the Central Coast Section. M-A's athletics page lists 13 straight PAL Commissioner's Cup titles through 2022 and 14 league titles, 3 CCS titles and 1 state title in 2021 to 2022. Wikipedia counts nearly 60 teams in 15 sports. For fall 2026, football tryouts began August 3 and other fall sports August 7. All athletes clear through SportsNet with a physical and immunization record.
Since 2022, Gunn and Paly football have played in a combined league of SCVAL and PAL schools, which our school sports guide explains. That puts M-A and the Palo Alto schools on overlapping schedules in some years.
Visiting and getting to know M-A
M-A offers one-on-one shadowing for eighth graders on typical Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from October through January. Slots fill fast and are booked through the school's site. The 8th Grade Information Night took place on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. The next big event is the Open House and New Family Resource Fair on Thursday, March 25, 2027 at 6 p.m., with a self-guided campus tour and tables on courses, athletics and summer programs.
How it compares: state data
Enrollment and student groups are from the California Department of Education Census Day count for 2025 to 2026. Test figures are the share of 11th graders who met or exceeded the standard on the CAASPP Smarter Balanced tests in spring 2025.
| School | Enrollment 2025 to 2026 | Socioeconomically disadvantaged | English learners | Grade 11 ELA met or exceeded (2025) | Grade 11 math met or exceeded (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menlo-Atherton High | 2,152 | 41.6% | 14.3% | 69.3% | 50.9% |
| Woodside High | 1,694 | 40.1% | 12.3% | 58.8% | 40.6% |
| Sequoia High | 1,839 | 49.4% | 17.2% | 54.3% | 32.0% |
| Palo Alto High | 1,828 | 12.9% | 2.9% | 75.8% | 73.7% |
| San Mateo County, all schools | 65.2% | 42.7% |
The same count shows M-A's students as about 43 percent Hispanic or Latino, 32 percent white, 9 percent Asian and 4 percent Pacific Islander, with about 14 percent students with disabilities. The school serves families from some of the wealthiest and some of the lowest-income neighborhoods on the Peninsula, which shapes every number in the table. The California School Dashboard has graduation rates and other indicators.
Getting there from Palo Alto
M-A is the easiest of the San Mateo County high schools to reach from Palo Alto. By car or bike, follow Middlefield Road north across San Francisquito Creek into Menlo Park and continue to the campus. Expect heavy traffic on Middlefield at bell times.
Caltrain riders can get off at Menlo Park station, one stop north of Palo Alto. From there, ride or walk east to Middlefield Road. The school's site links to SamTrans information for students, including its youth pass program.
Good to know
- SUHSD open enrollment and boundary exception requests are due February 1, 2027.
- A granted transfer is final and families handle transportation.
- Shadowing runs October through January and books up quickly.
- A Palo Alto mailing address east of Highway 101 does not always mean PAUSD.
Frequently asked questions
Who attends Menlo-Atherton High School?
Menlo-Atherton serves an attendance area in the Sequoia Union High School District that includes parts of Menlo Park, Atherton and East Palo Alto. Wikipedia lists Hillview Middle School, La Entrada Middle School and Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School as feeders. The district's School Site Locator gives the assigned school for any address.
How does open enrollment work in the Sequoia district?
Incoming ninth graders request another district school as part of online registration, which opens October 15. Requests are due February 1. If a school has more requests than seats, a public drawing is held on February 5. Approval letters go out in the first week of March. There is no appeal.
Can Palo Alto students go to Menlo-Atherton?
Palo Alto addresses are in the Palo Alto Unified School District, so they are not assigned to Menlo-Atherton. Some homes east of Highway 101 carry a Palo Alto mailing address but sit in East Palo Alto or unincorporated San Mateo County, which are in the Sequoia district. Check the address with both districts.
Can I visit Menlo-Atherton before choosing it?
Yes. M-A runs one-on-one shadowing on typical Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from October through January, booked on its website. It also holds an Open House and New Family Resource Fair on Thursday, March 25, 2027 at 6 p.m.
What league does Menlo-Atherton play in?
M-A's teams are the Bears and compete in the Peninsula Athletic League in the Central Coast Section. The school's athletics page lists 13 straight PAL Commissioner's Cup wins through 2022.