Delta Charter

· Santa Cruz County · Santa Cruz City High
Public Santa Cruz County 🏛 Santa Cruz City High → CDS 4469823…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Alternative Family Education → Slvusd Charter School → Renaissance High Continuation → Diamond Technology Institute → Costanoa Continuation High → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Delta Charter.

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)
112 (2018)114 (2026)
+1.8%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
63 (2018)45 (2026)
-28.6%

If this trend holds (+0.2%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~114 +0 $0
3 yr (2029) ~115 +1 $0
5 yr (2031) ~115 +1 $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.

Critical
Compounding decline on both vectors.

Enrollment -28.6% vs. county +3.1% AND stability (83.5%) below the county median. Recruitment and retention both under pressure — likely a foundational rather than tactical problem. Chronic absenteeism is also at 43.7% (up +6.0 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

-28.6%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+3.1%  Santa Cruz County baseline
-31.7pp  gap vs. county
83.5%  retention (county median 90.8%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
83.5%
106 of 127 students

21 of 127 students who enrolled at Delta Charter this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (16.5% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Santa Cruz County median
90.8% · school is in the 33rd percentile of 15 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 37th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (71) 78.9%
Socio. disadvantaged (51) 86.3%
Hispanic / Latino (46) 87.0%
Students w/ disabilities (25) 80.0%

Nearest peer high schools

Alternative Family Education 70.7% Slvusd Charter School 82.4% Renaissance High Continuation 28.3% Diamond Technology Institute 93.2% Costanoa Continuation High 44.0%

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
43.7%
55 of 126 students

Absenteeism is up 6.0 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Santa Cruz County median
18.8% · school is worse than 86% of 14 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 = 41
24.4%
incl. 9.8% exceeded
-41.7 pts vs. Santa Cruz County median (66.1%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 41
2.4%
incl. 2.4% exceeded
-31.8 pts vs. Santa Cruz County median (34.2%) · 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

White 52% -11.1
Hispanic / Latino 37% +6.6
Two or more 5% +3.6
American Indian 3% +1.7
Black / African Am. 2%
Filipino 1%
Pacific Islander 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 25% -4.8

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.

Delta Charter — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is down 29% (63→45 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -12%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+0.2%/yr); projects to ~115 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

114 students (2026)
~115 projected (2029)
at +0.2%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Delta Charter Public 114 -29%
Peer-group median -12%
Alternative Family Education Public 123 -62%
Slvusd Charter School Public 110 +76%
Renaissance High Continuation Public 82 -32%
Diamond Technology Institute Public 89 +200%
Costanoa Continuation High Public 67 +0%
Mt. Madonna High Public 141 -43%
Broadway High Public 147 -17%
Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter Public 235 +390%
Boynton High School Public 132 -38%
Apollo High Public 131 -8%

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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