We live in Del Mar, which is in the same high school district as Carmel Valley, and we have a daughter who’s a freshman in high school so we just went through the high school drill.
In this area, there is a choice of district high schools – Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) or Torrey Pines (TPHS). Residents of the district can either enter the lottery for CCA (which has nothing to do with academic ability of students, but is solely based on space available, but over 90% are typically admitted) or a student can enroll directly at TPHS where there is no lottery system.
So, TPHS is the automatic default high school and is a sure thing as far as high school enrollment goes if someone lives in the Carmel Valley area; the only school that is not a sure thing is CCA, but again, with over 90% getting in through the lottery, chances are good that CV residents will have their choice of either high school.
