The Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Ventura County Academic Decathlon, which was held last month. The winners were revealed at a ceremony this evening in Camarillo. The three teams with the highest overall scores this year are:

• 1st Place: Royal High School (Simi Valley Unified School District)
• 2nd Place: Westlake High School (Conejo Valley Unified School District)
• 3rd Place: Channel Islands High School (Oxnard Union High School District)

This is the first year that Royal High School has placed first overall. Complete individual and team results in all of the various categories are available here. 

The nine high schools that participated this year are Adolfo Camarillo High School, Channel Islands High School, Fillmore High School, Oak Park High School, Pacifica High School, Royal High School, Santa Susana High School, Thousand Oaks High School, and Westlake High School. The theme for this year’s Academic Decathlon is “The Roaring Twenties.”

As the county’s first-place team, Royal will now advance to the state Academic Decathlon. The winning California team moves on to the national competition. Teams representing Ventura County have made it to the nationals six times, placing second in 2000 and 2002, and taking first place in 1999, 2003, 2008, and 2009. A list of past winners is available here. 

The winning logo design for this year’s Ventura County Academic Decathlon was created by Layla Bloom, an 11th grader at Fillmore High School in the Fillmore Unified School District. VCOE would like to express its gratitude to Buena High School and the Ventura Unified School District for providing the venue for this year’s competition.

More About the Academic Decathlon

The Academic Decathlon is an opportunity for high school students in Ventura County to compete against teams from schools throughout the county. Students compete in ten academic events that cover subjects ranging from art to economics. A unique aspect of the competition is that it’s designed to include students from all academic backgrounds. The United States Academic Decathlon is the nation’s premier scholastic competition for students from public and private high schools across the country. For additional information about the Ventura County Academic Decathlon, please visit the Decathlon webpage.

1st Place: Royal High School (Simi Valley Unified School District)

2nd Place: Westlake High School (Conejo Valley Unified School District)

3rd Place: Channel Islands High School (Oxnard Union High School District)