Calexico High School

Calexico · Imperial County · Calexico Unified
Public Imperial County 🏛 Calexico Unified → ~707 seniors CDS 1363099…
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Most similar nearby schools

Central Union High School → Southwest High School → Imperial High School → Brawley Union High School → Eastlake High School → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
3,059 (2018)2,703 (2026)
-11.6%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
682 (2018)641 (2026)
-6.0%

If this trend holds (-1.5%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~2,662 -41 $0
3 yr (2029) ~2,580 -123 $0
5 yr (2031) ~2,502 -201 $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 Imperial County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Critical
Sharp demand downturn hidden by elite retention.

Calexico High School's enrollment is shrinking far faster than Imperial County (school -6.0% vs. county +9.3%). Stability of 91.1% means every family you keep is one fewer; the leverage is at recruitment, not retention. This is the case the high stability number alone would hide.

-6.0%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+9.3%  Imperial County baseline
-15.3pp  gap vs. county
91.1%  retention (county median 88.4%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
91.1%
2,608 of 2,862 students

254 of 2,862 students who enrolled at Calexico High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (8.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Imperial County median
88.4% · school is in the 83rd percentile of 12 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 72nd percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Hispanic / Latino (2,857) 91.2%
Socio. disadvantaged (2,453) 91.5%
English learners (1,283) 85.7%
Students w/ disabilities (346) 93.4%

Nearest peer high schools

Central Union High School 89.8% Southwest High School 90.6% Imperial High School 93.8% Brawley Union High School 87.1% Eastlake High School 93.4%

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
29.1%
814 of 2,802 students

Absenteeism is up 16.3 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Imperial County median
27.6% · school is worse than 50% of 12 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 = 596
50.2%
incl. 21.5% exceeded
+1.5 pts above Imperial County median (48.7%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 607
18.0%
incl. 6.1% exceeded
+1.6 pts above Imperial County median (16.4%) · 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 100%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 71% -13.2
English learners 38% -8.7
Socioeconomically disadv. 13% +4.6
Homeless 2% -2.3

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 — Calexico 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
$158.7M
+23.1% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$18,198
8,721 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 69.9%
Local: 9.6%
Federal: 20.5%
Instruction share
56.0%
of current spending · $8,706/pupil
Long-term debt
$75.5M
+20.1% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Calexico 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).

University of California outcomes · Class of 2025
UC Reach
12%
84 admits / 707 seniors
-2.0 pp vs. peer median (13.9%) · Ranked #7 of 11 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 16.1% 2025 · 11.9%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
13.9%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
11.9%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 11.9%

Higher than 27% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Calexico High School's UC Reach of 11.9% is below the California median (18.5%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53.3% or higher.

Overall, Calexico High School's UC Reach is higher than 27% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
41.3%
292 applications
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · higher than 20% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
28.8%
84 / 292 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 64% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
21.4%
18 enrolled of 84 admitted
Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.
UC Enrollment Reach
2.5%
18 enrollees / 707 seniors
Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what % ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.
Student-Counselor Ratio
386:1
7.0 FTE counselors · 2,703 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 48 more students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
33%
212 of 645 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -23.0 pp vs. median · Imperial Co. 46.1%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
88%
66% finished in 4 yrs · N=50 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6%.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
10.2
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 25% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
1.6
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 16% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
707
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
2,746
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
0.91
39th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Calexico High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Calexico · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Calexico High School sits in the middle of its similar-school group (ranked #7 of 11): 12% vs. a peer median of 14%.
  • Its UC Reach has slipped 3 points since 2018 — worth watching.
  • Across the top-6 UC campuses, Calexico High School is admitting at roughly +9 percentage points above what its average applicant GPA (3.768) alone would predict (29% actual vs. 20% expected). That's a meaningful signal — it can reflect UC's track record with this school's graduates, students presenting strongly in UC's holistic review (essays, EC's, context), or institutional familiarity helping at the margin. The data can't distinguish which, but the pattern itself is real and worth understanding.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 6% (682→641 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -1%.
  • At its recent rate (-1.5%/yr), enrollment projects to ~2580 by 2029 — about 123 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

2703 students (2026)
~2580 projected (2029)
at -1.5%/yr

That's about 123 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
Calexico High School Public 2703 11.9% -6%
Peer-group median 13.9% -1%
Central Union High School Public 2023 9.6% +8%
Southwest High School Public 1886 13.2% -1%
Imperial High School Public 1449 10.2% +40%
Brawley Union High School Public 1868 11.7% +18%
Eastlake High School Public 2585 21.3% -30%
LA Quinta High School Public 2445 18.5% -1%
Granite Hills High Public 2412 8.8% +7%
Otay Ranch High School Public 2408 22.0% -7%
Coachella Valley High School Public 2282 16.2% -17%
Steele Canyon High School Public 2237 14.7% -2%

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 →

Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs
3.77
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.12

Admit rate vs. CA peer average, by campus

How does this school's admit rate at each UC compare to other CA schools whose applicant pool averages the same GPA?

Campus Applicant GPA (avg) Actual admit rate CA peer avg Δ Verdict
UC Berkeley 3.89 14.7% 11.7% +3.1pp On target
UCLA 3.81 9.5% 9.0% +0.5pp On target
UC San Diego 3.76 39.0% 26.0% +13.0pp Over
UC Santa Barbara 3.57 58.3% 30.4% +27.9pp Over
UC Irvine 3.76 24.2% 19.0% +5.2pp Over
UC Davis 3.72 44.4% 32.1% +12.4pp Over
"Applicant GPA" is the average GPA of this school's UC applicant pool — not an individual student GPA. "CA peer avg" is the application-weighted statewide admit rate at this school-pool GPA, fit separately per campus. At any given pool GPA, real admit rates span widely (UCSD ranges 8% → 65% across CA schools) because UCs use comprehensive review — context-of-opportunity, geography, demographics, and applicant essays all weigh in beyond GPA. A large negative residual flags this school is admitted at a meaningfully lower rate than other CA schools at the same pool GPA — not that students here were "rejected at expected rate X." "Over" / "Under" use a ±5-point band. Campuses with fewer than 5 applicants are omitted.

Where Calexico High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 8.7 points above what their GPAs predict (28.8% actual vs. 20.1% expected).

UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025

UC Admit Rate %
UC Reach % (where available)
UC Admits (count, right axis)

Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data — applicant/admit totals may count a student at multiple campuses more than once.

Campus Breakdown — 2025

Campus Applicants Admits Enrollees Admit Rate UC Reach Yield Avg GPA (App) Avg GPA (Adm)
UC Berkeley → Elite 34 5 3 14.7% 0.7% 60.0% 3.89 4.24
UCLA → Elite 63 6 4 9.5% 0.8% 66.7% 3.81 4.25
UC San Diego → Selective 82 32 11 39.0% 4.5% 34.4% 3.76 4.19
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 24 14 58.3% 2.0% 3.57 3.85
UC Irvine → Selective 62 15 24.2% 2.1% 3.76 4.13
UC Davis → 27 12 44.4% 1.7% 3.72 4.15
⚠ Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once. Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which requires unique-student counts. See methodology →

What This Means

A large share of the class applies to UC, so the admit rate runs lower than the application volume alone might suggest — expected when many students apply broadly, including to reach campuses. UC Reach (which credits every admit relative to the class) is the truer read of how the class fares: a strong Reach alongside a moderate admit rate is healthy, not a contradiction.
Fewer than 15% of seniors are earning UC admission. This may reflect a high non-UC college-going rate, significant A-G completion gaps, or an early-stage UC pipeline. A deeper review of A-G readiness and counseling capacity is warranted.
Students are earning UC admission but enrolling elsewhere at a notable rate. This may reflect competition from private colleges, out-of-state flagships, cost considerations, or UC campus fit. Student outcome surveys can clarify.
Note: admit counts used here are campus-level totals. A student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted twice. When UCOP unique-student data becomes available it will be loaded automatically and the labels will update.
Compare with other schools → See Imperial County rankings →

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