Independence Charter Academy

· San Bernardino County · Helendale Elementary
Public San Bernardino County 🏛 Helendale Elementary → CDS 3667736…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Central High (continuation) → Academy Of Careers And Exploration → Chaparral High → Goodwill High → Canyon Ridge High → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Independence Charter Academy.

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)
177 (2018)105 (2026)
-40.7%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
29 (2018)15 (2026)
-48.3%

If this trend holds (-6.3%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~98 -7 $0
3 yr (2029) ~86 -19 $0
5 yr (2031) ~76 -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 Bernardino 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 -48.3% vs. county +0.0% AND stability (55.8%) below the county median. Recruitment and retention both under pressure — likely a foundational rather than tactical problem.

-48.3%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+0.0%  San Bernardino County baseline
-48.3pp  gap vs. county
55.8%  retention (county median 80.5%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
55.8%
53 of 95 students

42 of 95 students who enrolled at Independence Charter Academy this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (44.2% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

San Bernardino County median
80.5% · school is in the 25th percentile of 99 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 20th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (142) 40.8%
Hispanic / Latino (91) 51.6%
White (60) 48.3%
Students w/ disabilities (28) 57.1%

Nearest peer high schools

Central High (continuation) 23.4% Academy Of Careers And Exploration 84.0% Chaparral High 30.3% Goodwill High 15.7% Canyon Ridge High 38.2%

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
30.4%
28 of 92 students

Absenteeism is up 23.4 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

San Bernardino County median
26.7% · school is worse than 60% of 97 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 = 18
22.2%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
-24.1 pts vs. San Bernardino County median (46.3%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 18
11.1%
incl. 5.6% exceeded
-4.7 pts vs. San Bernardino County median (15.8%) · 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 41%
White 39% -2.6
Black / African Am. 10% +4.6
Two or more 5% +1.7
Asian 2%
Pacific Islander 2%
Not reported 2%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 39% -30.7

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 — Helendale Elementary (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
$16.3M
-56.9% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$14,006
1,163 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 72.6%
Local: 18.6%
Federal: 8.8%
Instruction share
57.8%
of current spending · $7,092/pupil
Long-term debt
$6.3M
-7.7% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Helendale Elementary 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).

Independence Charter Academy — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is down 48% (29→15 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -8%.
  • At its recent rate (-6.3%/yr), enrollment projects to ~86 by 2029 — about 19 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

105 students (2026)
~86 projected (2029)
at -6.3%/yr

That's about 19 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
Independence Charter Academy Public 105 -48%
Peer-group median -8%
Central High (continuation) Public 95 -16%
Academy Of Careers And Exploration Public 310 +9%
Chaparral High Public 133 +4%
Goodwill High Public 46 -79%
Canyon Ridge High Public 174 -3%
Mojave High School Public 210 -27%
High Desert Premier Academy Public 273 +240%
Summit Leadership Academy-High Desert Public 275 -29%
Mojave River Academy - Marble City Public 254 +188%
Boron Junior-Senior High Public 251 -13%

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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