Gilroy Unified School District serves about 16,000 students across Gilroy and south Morgan Hill, making it one of the larger districts in Santa Clara County. The district sits in a curious position: it's big enough to offer real choice, but small enough that most families recognize the same names.
If you're moving to Gilroy or thinking about where to raise your family in the South Valley, understanding your school options is worth an afternoon of research. We'll give you the real picture.
The Main High Schools
Gilroy High School is the largest and oldest high school in the district. It's a traditional comprehensive high school with about 2,000 students, AP classes, sports programs, and the kind of size that means you'll find your people if you look. The school has deep roots in the community—generations of Gilroy families have gone through Gilroy High. It's not a fancy school, but it works.
Christopher High School opened in 1998 and serves about 1,400 students. Slightly smaller than Gilroy High, it has a similar profile—college-prep academics, sports, clubs, the standard menu of high school offerings. Parents who choose between the two often mention that Christopher feels a bit more intimate, though both schools graduate kids who go to college and the workforce at normal rates.
Here's the Interesting Part: Early College
Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy (GECA) is worth serious attention if your teenager is academically minded and wants to get a jump on college.
This is not a gifted program or honors track. This is an actual dual-enrollment pathway where students attend high school at Gilroy but earn college credit through Gavilan College, the community college right here in Gilroy. Students graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree. That means two degrees for the price of (mostly) one, and they enter the workforce or transfer to a four-year university already holding college credits and credentials.
If your kid is the type to graduate high school at 16 with an associate degree in hand, GECA exists for that reason. The program is rigorous—it's not a gimmick—but it's also genuinely accessible. You don't need a 4.0 GPA to get in, though you need to be serious about the work.
Gavilan College sits right in Gilroy off Sycamore Avenue and serves the entire South Valley. Whether or not your kid does GECA, Gavilan is worth knowing about. Transfer programs to UC and CSU schools are solid. Welding, automotive, nursing, and trade programs pump graduates into jobs that actually pay. The community college in your backyard beats having to drive to San Jose for night classes.
Middle Schools and Elementary Schools
Gilroy Unified runs several middle schools serving different areas of town. Solorsano Middle School is one of the larger and more established ones.
On the elementary level, Rod Kelley Elementary has a solid reputation, though the district runs about a dozen elementary schools across Gilroy, and quality tends to be reasonably consistent.
Like any district this size, you'll find variation from school to school, but nothing dramatic. It's solid, working public education.
What's Missing?
Unlike Morgan Hill, Gilroy doesn't have a top-ranked charter school option. There are charter schools in the district, but none that get the kind of attention or out-of-area enrollment pull that the Charter School of Morgan Hill does.
Private school options are more limited too. This is a working-class district in a working-class city. That's not a judgment—it's just the reality. Families here tend to use public schools, and the schools work reasonably well for that purpose.
The Gavilan College Wild Card
Here's something people overlook: Gavilan College genuinely changes the equation for your kids' future. A kid who goes to Gilroy High and then transfers to Gavilan can graduate with an associate degree by age 20, having spent money primarily on community college rates rather than university prices. That's a real path.
Even if your kid doesn't do GECA, Gavilan is right here. If your family needs an affordable pathway to credentials, trade skills, or a transfer degree, you have it in your own town.
The Honest Take
Gilroy schools are public education doing what public education does—educating kids from lots of different families, some with resources and some without, and doing an okay job of it. You won't find the fanciest schools here, but you also won't find broken ones.
The district is investing in programs like GECA because it understands that not every student needs four years of traditional high school and then four years of a four-year university. Some students need faster pathways, cheaper pathways, or different pathways entirely. That's actually pretty smart.
If you're choosing between Gilroy and Morgan Hill for schools, the difference isn't huge. Morgan Hill's charter option (the Charter School of Morgan Hill) is more competitive academically. Gilroy's GECA early college program is more innovative. Both districts serve their communities reasonably well.
What matters more: where you can afford to live, what the neighborhoods feel like, and whether the community is a fit for your family. Schools are important, but they're not everything.
Ready to Learn More?
If you're weighing Gilroy, Morgan Hill, or San Martin for your family, we can help you understand what each area actually feels like to live in. Not just the schools—the whole picture.
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Sources: Gilroy Unified School District official website and school profiles, California Department of Education public school data, Gavilan College official website and dual enrollment information, Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy program details, Santa Clara County school district information