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High Tech High Mesa

San Diego · CA · High Tech High Mesa District · Public charter

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 25% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 13% by test-taker volume

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

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How High Tech High Mesa compares for families

What families should know about High Tech High Mesa.

  • LocallyCA trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−4 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Mt. Everest Academy, Riley/New Dawn, Scy High (Southern California Yeshiva High School) and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 13% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
9
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
2.1
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.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

40.5%
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
435:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
1.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
25
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 93 in 2021 to 103 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+10.8%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +1.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 435 students:

2025
439
2027
448
2029
458

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

Revenue upside

At $12,368 per student in district revenue, the 23 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $284,464/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.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Mt. Everest Academy
San Diego
Public 0.4 122 -2.4%
Riley/New Dawn
San Diego
Public 0.5 63 -17.1%
Scy High (Southern California Yeshiva High School)
San Diego
Private 0.8 33
San Diego Metro Career and Tech
San Diego
Public 1.0 119 +11.2%
Madison High
San Diego
Public 1.2 780 -14.2%
Whittier K-12
San Diego
Public 1.3 36
Clairemont High
San Diego
Public 1.3 823 -6.7%
Learning Choice Academy
San Diego
Public · charter 1.4 54 +0.0%

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