 Based on the 2013 academic year, "U.S News & World Report" in its "The Best Schools in United States" ranked Rancho Alamitos High School as #367 (out of 2,199) among California schools, and #1718 (out of more than 21,000) in the nation.With that rank, it awarded RAHS the Silver Medal.The school's athletic teams are known as the Vaqueros (a Spanish type of cowboy figure), though Rancho students tend to shorten its name to "Vaqs".