Alternative Family Education
📄 Shareable scorecard →Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Delta Charter → Slvusd Charter School → Costanoa Continuation High → Renaissance High Continuation → Diamond Technology Institute → Compare all similar →Enrollment trend & projection
If this trend holds (-0.5%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~122 | -1 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~121 | -2 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~120 | -3 | $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 Santa Cruz County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.
Enrollment -61.5% vs. county +3.1% AND stability (70.7%) below the county median. Recruitment and retention both under pressure — likely a foundational rather than tactical problem.
17 of 58 students who enrolled at Alternative Family Education this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (29.3% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.
Stability by student group
Nearest peer high schools
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.
Absenteeism is up 4.9 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.
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).
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
Program subgroups
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.
Alternative Family Education — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot
Public · Santa Cruz · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools
- ▸Senior-class enrollment is down 62% (13→5 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -13%.
- ▸At its recent rate (-0.5%/yr), enrollment projects to ~121 by 2029 — about 2 fewer students than today.
Enrollment projection
That's about 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Family Education | Public | 123 | — | -62% |
| Peer-group median | — | -13% | ||
| Delta Charter | Public | 114 | — | -29% |
| Slvusd Charter School | Public | 110 | — | +76% |
| Costanoa Continuation High | Public | 67 | — | +0% |
| Renaissance High Continuation | Public | 82 | — | -32% |
| Diamond Technology Institute | Public | 89 | — | +200% |
| Boynton High School | Public | 132 | — | -38% |
| Broadway High | Public | 147 | — | -17% |
| Mt. Madonna High | Public | 141 | — | -43% |
| New Valley Continuation High | Public | 117 | — | -10% |
| Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter | Public | 235 | — | +390% |
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 →
Campus Breakdown — 2024
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Enrollees | Admit Rate | UC Reach | Yield | Avg GPA (App) | Avg GPA (Adm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley → Elite | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| UCLA → Elite | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| UC San Diego → Selective | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| UC Davis → | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |