Highland Ranch Elementary

· San Diego County · Poway Unified
Public San Diego County 🏛 Poway Unified → CDS 3768296…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Del Lago Academy - Campus Of Applied Science → Del Dios Academy Of Arts And Sciences → Pride Academy At Prospect Avenue → Madison High → Creative Performing And Media Arts → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Highland Ranch Elementary.

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
709 (2018)660 (2026)
-6.9%

If this trend holds (-0.9%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~654 -6 $0
3 yr (2029) ~643 -17 $0
5 yr (2031) ~631 -29 $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.

Stability rate
93.1%
646 of 694 students

48 of 694 students who enrolled at Highland Ranch Elementary this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (6.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

San Diego County median
88.7% · school is in the 70th percentile of 207 HS
Statewide median
88.7% · in the 76th percentile of 2,648 HS

Stability by student group

Asian (225) 93.3%
White (209) 90.9%
Socio. disadvantaged (120) 87.5%
Students w/ disabilities (113) 94.7%
Hispanic / Latino (108) 93.5%
English learners (105) 89.5%

Nearest peer high schools

Del Lago Academy - Campus Of Applied Science 95.7% Del Dios Academy Of Arts And Sciences 89.7% Pride Academy At Prospect Avenue 88.9% Madison High 91.3% Creative Performing And Media Arts 92.4%

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: total enrollment.

Chronic absent
9.7%
66 of 681 students

Absenteeism is up 3.2 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 better than 79% of 205 HS
Statewide median
20.9%
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).

District financial profile — Poway 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
$551.8M
+11.9% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$15,472
35,663 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 39.4%
Local: 54.6%
Federal: 6.0%
Instruction share
61.9%
of current spending · $7,624/pupil
Long-term debt
$1104.3M
+99.9% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Poway 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).

Highland Ranch Elementary — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • At its recent rate (-0.9%/yr), enrollment projects to ~643 by 2029 — about 17 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

660 students (2026)
~643 projected (2029)
at -0.9%/yr

That's about 17 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
Highland Ranch Elementary Public 660
Peer-group median 15.7% -0%
Del Lago Academy - Campus Of Applied Science Public 762 +4%
Del Dios Academy Of Arts And Sciences Public 758
Pride Academy At Prospect Avenue Public 560
Madison High Public 753 8.3% -16%
Creative Performing And Media Arts Public 528
Preuss School UCSD Public 825 86.1% +17%
Escondido Charter High School Public 900 15.7% -5%
Innovations Academy Public 437
Poway to Palomar Middle Colleg Public
Quantum Academy Public 399

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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