At Pioneer High, each student has a certain amount of unit requirements under different categories that they must complete in order to graduate.

To support this focus, the school requires all sophomore students to participate in a "Sophomore Project", a venture that demands a minimum of 30 hours of community service related to a world problem, in addition to many class assignments relating to it such as a poem and a poster board, in the span of a school year.

Students may complete multiple hours of personal or community work in order to obtain extra credits.

[6] Pioneer Mustangs Athletics are generally known for being a strong force within the BVAL league of the Central Coast Section.

Pioneer football has achieved multiple winning seasons in the Mount Hamilton division of BVAL over the past decade, and continually competes with private schools of a much higher caliber.