Alta Vista High (continuation)

· San Diego County · Vista Unified
Public San Diego County 🏛 Vista Unified → CDS 3768452…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Vista Visions Academy → Foothills High School → Carlsbad Village Academy → Ivy High (continuation) → Oasis High (alternative) → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Alta Vista High (continuation).

This school doesn't appear in UCOP's source-school records (it may send few or no applicants to UC). Its enrollment trend and similar-school comparison are still below.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
139 (2018)55 (2026)
-60.4%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
95 (2018)39 (2026)
-58.9%

If this trend holds (-10.9%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~49 -6 $0
3 yr (2029) ~39 -16 $0
5 yr (2031) ~31 -24 $0

Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423/ADA). Edit the figure to match your school.

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the San Diego County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Critical
Compounding decline on both vectors.

Enrollment -58.9% vs. county -7.8% AND stability (51.9%) below the county median. Recruitment and retention both under pressure — likely a foundational rather than tactical problem. Chronic absenteeism is also at 93.2% (up +18.6 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

-58.9%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-7.8%  San Diego County baseline
-51.1pp  gap vs. county
51.9%  retention (county median 88.5%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
51.9%
55 of 106 students

51 of 106 students who enrolled at Alta Vista High (continuation) this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (48.1% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

San Diego County median
88.5% · school is in the 16th percentile of 121 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 18th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (102) 52.9%
Hispanic / Latino (97) 49.5%
Students w/ disabilities (34) 61.8%
English learners (24) 54.2%

Nearest peer high schools

Vista Visions Academy 45.1% Foothills High School 20.6% Carlsbad Village Academy 35.3% Ivy High (continuation) 51.9% Oasis High (alternative) 55.0%

Source: California Department of Education, Stability Rate 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 cumulative enrollees so by-design-high-churn continuation schools don't dominate the bottom of the distribution. Cumulative enrollment counts every student on the rolls during the year, so it can exceed peak-day enrollment.

Chronic absenteeism — 2024-25

Share of students missing 10% or more of expected attendance — the leading indicator that often precedes the demand decline shown above. Families disengaging tend to raise absenteeism first, then formally leave. Basis: grades 9–12.

Chronic absent
93.2%
96 of 103 students

Absenteeism is up 18.6 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

San Diego County median
18.9% · school is worse than 99% of 117 HS
Statewide median
22.9%
Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

Source: California Department of Education, Chronic Absenteeism 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 eligible students. CDE didn't publish a usable 2019-20 file (COVID).

SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2025

Share of grade-11 students meeting or exceeding the California standard on Smarter Balanced ELA and Math. This is the academic-readiness signal that pairs with UC Reach (post-grad outcomes), stability (retention), and absenteeism (engagement). Note: statewide median Math is only ~20% — a school at 20% isn't an outlier; one at 45%+ genuinely is.

ELA — met or exceeded
n = 11
0.0%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
-60.6 pts vs. San Diego County median (60.6%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 29
0.0%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
-24.4 pts vs. San Diego County median (24.4%) · CA median 21.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced research files. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥30 tested students.

Student composition — 2025-26

HS grades 9–12 racial/ethnic composition and program subgroups, from CDE Census Day Enrollment. Two-year shift shown when ≥1 pt — surfaces how the community served has changed since 2023-24.

Race / ethnicity

Hispanic / Latino 93% +1.6
White 4% -1.8
Two or more 4% +1.8

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 84% -2.1
Socioeconomically disadv. 27% +10.3
English learners 20% +9.3

Source: California Department of Education, Census Day Enrollment 2025-26 (HS grades 9–12). Δ shown when shift is ≥1 pt since 2023-24. Categories below 0.5% omitted.

District financial profile — Vista Unified (FY2020)

From 4 years of NCES F-33 filings (the federally-mandated district finance survey). Public schools don't have their own books — the district does. These figures show the financial scale, revenue dependence, instruction-vs-overhead mix, and long-term debt that shape what a school can sustain.

Total revenue
$329.5M
+8.1% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$16,706
19,722 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 52.3%
Local: 36.0%
Federal: 11.6%
Instruction share
63.0%
of current spending · $9,142/pupil
Long-term debt
$149.1M
+32.3% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($M)
Total expenditure by year ($M)

Source: NCES F-33 Annual Survey of School System Finances (Urban Institute Education Data API). Latest year currently published: FY2020. F-33 is a district-level federal filing — it reflects the Vista Unified as a whole, not this individual school's books. Revenue mix shows where the district's dollars come from (state aid dominates in CA via LCFF). Instruction share is current expenditure on instruction ÷ total current expenditure (national benchmark ~60%). Long-term debt is end-of-year outstanding (mostly facilities bonds).

Alta Vista High (continuation) — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is down 59% (95→39 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -15%.
  • At its recent rate (-10.9%/yr), enrollment projects to ~39 by 2029 — about 16 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

55 students (2026)
~39 projected (2029)
at -10.9%/yr

That's about 16 fewer students. At per-student funding of $ per student, that's roughly $0 in annual state funding at risk.

Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423 per ADA) — adjust to your district's actual per-pupil figure. Projection extrapolates the recent annual rate — not a forecast of intent.

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Alta Vista High (continuation) Public 55 -59%
Peer-group median -15%
Vista Visions Academy Public 62 +150%
Foothills High School Public 61 -31%
Carlsbad Village Academy Public 42 -46%
Ivy High (continuation) Public 71 -41%
Oasis High (alternative) Public 80 +27%
Oak Glen High Public 73 +12%
Sunset High (continuation) Public 82 -27%
Major General Raymond Murray High Public 143 -4%
Carlsbad Seaside Academy Public 26 -38%
Surfside High (continuation) Public 111 +4%

UC Reach = top-6 UC admits ÷ senior class (can exceed 100% when students are admitted to multiple campuses). Enrollment trend = first-to-latest grade-12 change on file. Similar schools matched on proximity, size, type. Methodology →

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