Pacific Coast Academy
Poway · CA · Pacific Coast Academy District · Public charter · K-12 combined
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Cabrillo Point Academy → Abraxas Continuation High → Poway High → Rancho Bernardo High → Fusion San Diego Scripps Ranch → Scripps Ranch High → Mt. Carmel High → The Cambridge School →📋 At a glance
- 📚 9 AP courses offered — Strong
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 🎓 AP rigor: 56th percentile nationally
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 4% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 87% (Bottom 39% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Pacific Coast Academy compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 56th percentile nationally with 9 AP courses.
- ▸ LocallyCA trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−4 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Cabrillo Point Academy, Abraxas Continuation High, Poway High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses
56th percentile nationally
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 4% by test-taker volume
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
Bottom 39% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.
🏛️ Federal Title I context
Title I Targeted Assistance eligible
35-39% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Targeted Assistance
35-39% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The school can receive Title I funds targeted to identified students (not schoolwide).
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +14.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 6,760 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $10,705 per student in district revenue, the 6,600 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $70,653,000/year in additional funding.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Nearby high schools — the local competition
The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrillo Point Academy Poway |
Public · charter | 0.0 | 674 | -5.5% |
| Abraxas Continuation High Poway |
Public | 3.0 | 216 | +1.4% |
| Poway High Poway |
Public | 4.1 | 2,101 | -7.6% |
| Rancho Bernardo High San Diego |
Public | 4.4 | 2,210 | -5.3% |
| Fusion San Diego Scripps Ranch San Diego |
Private | 5.1 | 50 | — |
| Scripps Ranch High San Diego |
Public | 5.2 | 1,890 | -3.1% |
| Mt. Carmel High San Diego |
Public | 5.6 | 1,800 | -3.1% |
| The Cambridge School San Diego |
Private | 5.8 | 366 | +39.7% |