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William J. (Pete) Knight High

Palmdale · CA · Antelope Valley Union High · Public

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📚AP rigor: 82th percentile nationally 📖17 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 17 AP courses offered — Elite
  • 🔢 3 calculus classes · 4 physics · 19 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 82th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Top 3.9% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 85% (Bottom 35% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How William J. (Pete) Knight High compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 18% nationally with 17 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: Antelope Valley Learning Academy, Palmdale Academy Charter, Palmdale Aerospace Academy and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

82th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
17
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
16
3 calculus · 13 advanced
Lab science classes
23
4 physics · 19 chemistry
Other rigor signals
No dual-enrollment or gifted program reported

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 · 2020-21

Top 3.9% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
668
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
28.4
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

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 35% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
85%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
673
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

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.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
1.6%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
26.2%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

58.1%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

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

Student : Counselor
294:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
8.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
120
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

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

Grade 12 went from 696 in 2021 to 582 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-16.4%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -7.1%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,349 students:

2025
2,183
2027
1,885
2029
1,628

≈ 721 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $16,006 per student in district revenue, the 721 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $11,540,326/year in funding at risk.

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.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Antelope Valley Learning Academy
Palmdale
Public · charter 2.0 898 -3.9%
Palmdale Academy Charter
Palmdale
Public · charter 3.0 989 +274.6%
Palmdale Aerospace Academy
Palmdale
Public · charter 3.6 982 -2.7%
Littlerock High
Littlerock
Public 4.1 1,507 -4.9%
Palmdale High
Palmdale
Public 4.6 2,208 -11.9%
Antelope Valley ROP
Palmdale
Public 5.6
R. Rex Parris High
Palmdale
Public 6.6 469 -26.1%
Eastside High
Lancaster
Public 8.8 2,631 -4.1%

For Parents

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