Hillside Junior/Senior High

· San Diego County · Mountain Empire Unified
Public San Diego County 🏛 Mountain Empire Unified → CDS 3768213…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Sunrise High (continuation) → Elite Academy → Reach Academy → Chaparral High → Alta Vista Academy → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Hillside Junior/Senior High.

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)
17 (2018)27 (2026)
+58.8%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
3 (2018)10 (2026)
+233.3%

If this trend holds (+6.0%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~29 +2 $0
3 yr (2029) ~32 +5 $0
5 yr (2031) ~36 +9 $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.

Mixed signal
Demand outpacing county is masking internal churn.

Enrollment growth is beating San Diego County (+233.3% vs. -7.8%), but 26 of 41 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is also at 65.7% (up +65.7 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

+233.3%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-7.8%  San Diego County baseline
+241.1pp  gap vs. county
36.6%  retention (county median 88.5%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
36.6%
15 of 41 students

26 of 41 students who enrolled at Hillside Junior/Senior High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (63.4% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

San Diego County median
88.5% · school is in the 4th percentile of 121 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 10th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (35) 42.9%
Hispanic / Latino (27) 44.4%

Nearest peer high schools

Sunrise High (continuation) 19.4% Elite Academy 75.0% Reach Academy 28.1% Chaparral High 11.0% Alta Vista Academy 30.2%

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
63.6%
21 of 33 students

Absenteeism is up 63.6 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 91% 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, 2023

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 = —
7.7%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
Math — met or exceeded
n = —
7.7%
incl. 0.0% exceeded

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 62% -18.6
White 29% +10.3
Black / African Am. 4%
American Indian 4%

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.

District financial profile — Mountain Empire 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
$34.2M
+22.4% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$20,448
1,674 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 50.8%
Local: 31.2%
Federal: 17.9%
Instruction share
57.1%
of current spending · $9,348/pupil
Long-term debt
$6.6M
+320.9% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Mountain Empire 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).

Hillside Junior/Senior High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is up 233% (3→10 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -34%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+6.0%/yr); projects to ~32 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

27 students (2026)
~32 projected (2029)
at +6.0%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Hillside Junior/Senior High Public 27 +233%
Peer-group median 12.5% -34%
Sunrise High (continuation) Public 22 +275%
Elite Academy Public 31 +156%
Reach Academy Public 21 -52%
Chaparral High Public 35 -56%
Alta Vista Academy Public 33 -17%
San Pasqual Academy Public 36 -62%
San Pasqual Academy Public 36 -81%
Grossmont Middle College Hs Public 47 12.5% -56%
Merit Academy Public 72 +0%
Montecito High (continuation) Public 93 -6%

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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