Santa Cruz County, officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the Santa Cruz–Watsonville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area. The county is on the California Central Coast, south of the San Francisco Bay Area region. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay, with Monterey County forming the southern coast.
Aptos is an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The town is made up of several small villages, which together form Aptos: Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Aptos Village, Cabrillo, Seacliff, Rio del Mar, and Seascape. Together, they have a combined population of 24,402.
Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 at the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self-designated sanctuary city.
Los Gatos High School (LGHS) is a high school in Los Gatos, California. It was founded in 1908 and is part of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, which in 2021 was ranked the best high school district in California
Adrian C. Wilcox High School is a comprehensive, coeducational public high school in Santa Clara, California, United States that serves students in grades nine through twelve. It is one of five high schools in the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD). Wilcox was first accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 1966 and has since been accredited through 2022. In April 2005, Wilcox officially became a California Distinguished School.
Santa Cruz High School is a comprehensive public school in Santa Cruz, California which originally opened in 1897 and now serves an enrollment of about 1,040 students in grades nine through twelve. It is part of the Santa Cruz City School District. The school's mascot is a cardinal.
The Pajaronian is a newspaper based in Watsonville, California in Santa Cruz County on California's Central Coast. The Register-Pajaronian is published weekly every Friday, but was for many years a daily paper. The newspaper has a circulation of 5,000 and covers the Watsonville City Council, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau. The newspaper's coverage area includes the cities of Aptos, Corralitos, Watsonville, Pajaro, Aromas and most of North Monterey County. Tony Nunez is the managing editor of the Register-Pajaronian, which is owned by Santa Cruz-based Good Times.
Hamilton High School is a public high school in Chandler, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest high school and the 64th largest in the nation, with approximately 4,000 students.
Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County, California. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 3,650,300, or about 14,800 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Turlock High School (THS) is a comprehensive high school located in Turlock, in the heart of the northern San Joaquin Valley in the U.S. state of California.
The Pajaro River is a U.S. river in the Central Coast region of California, forming part of the border between San Benito and Santa Clara Counties, the entire border between San Benito and Santa Cruz County, and the entire border between Santa Cruz and Monterey County. Flowing roughly east to west, the river empties into Monterey Bay, west of Watsonville, California.
Saint Francis Central Coast Catholic High School is a Catholic school in Watsonville, California. The school was named after Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Francis de Sales, and is operated by an independent corporation that is a partnership between the Salesian Society and the Diocese of Monterey.
Aptos High School is a comprehensive secondary school in Aptos, California, USA in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Aptos High serves the communities of Rio Del Mar, Corralitos, Seacliff, Seascape, La Selva Beach, Buena Vista and Watsonville.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District is a school district based in Watsonville, California, USA. The Superintendent is Michelle Rodriguez. The District is overseen by a seven members of the board of trustees that meets an average of twice a month.
Luis Angel Alejo is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly representing the 30th Assembly District, encompassing the Pajaro and Salinas valleys. He currently serves as a County Supervisor for the County of Monterey.
Monterey Bay League (MBL) was a high school athletic conference part of the CIF Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. It comprised high schools generally around Monterey County, California, with schools from southern Santa Clara County, Watsonville on the edge of Santa Cruz County and one of only two high schools in San Benito County. Not all schools participated in all sports. In 2017, Monterey Bay League merged with the Mission Trail Athletic League (MTAL) to create the Pacific Coast Athletic League (PCAL).
The Santa Cruz Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad that ran 21 miles from Santa Cruz to Pajaro, California. It started operation in 1874, running from the east bank of the San Lorenzo River to Soquel, California. With completion of a bridge over the San Lorenzo, it began operation over its full length in 1876 and was sold in foreclosure in 1881.
Pajaro/Watsonville is a proposed train station that will serve both Pajaro and Watsonville, California. The station is expected to open after track improvements in the area and service commences to Salinas as part of the Monterey County Rail Extension. It will be located in Watsonville Junction near the corner of Salinas Road and Lewis Road, adjacent to the former Southern Pacific Railroad depot and current Union Pacific Railroad office. The station will eventually serve Caltrain, Capitol Corridor, and Coast Starlight.
Pescadero Creek is a 9-mile-long (14 km) southward-flowing stream originating in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains. It begins in Santa Clara County, California and flows into Santa Cruz County, before joining the Pajaro River, and thence to Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Pescadero Creek is the center of a critical linkage connecting the wildlife of the southern Santa Cruz Mountains to the Gabilan Range to the south.
Justin Garza High School is a public high school serving the rural area west of Fresno, California.
