Los Alamitos High School

Los Alamitos · Orange County · Los Alamitos Unified
Public Orange County 🏛 Los Alamitos Unified → ~756 seniors CDS 3073924…
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Most similar nearby schools

Cypress High School → Millikan High School → Westminster High School → Wilson High School → Mayfair High School → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
3,235 (2018)2,809 (2026)
-13.2%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
829 (2018)711 (2026)
-14.2%

If this trend holds (-1.7%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~2,760 -49 $0
3 yr (2029) ~2,664 -145 $0
5 yr (2031) ~2,572 -237 $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 Orange County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Action needed
Strong inside, weak at the gate.

Families who enroll at Los Alamitos High School stay (96.5% stability — elite). But enrollment is dropping 2.0× the county rate (school -14.2% vs. county -7.1%). The audit question isn't why students leave — it's why fewer families are choosing to enroll in the first place.

-14.2%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-7.1%  Orange County baseline
-7.1pp  gap vs. county
96.5%  retention (county median 91.8%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
96.5%
2,862 of 2,967 students

105 of 2,967 students who enrolled at Los Alamitos High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (3.5% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Orange County median
91.8% · school is in the 94th percentile of 94 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 96th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (1,193) 97.3%
Hispanic / Latino (896) 97.0%
Socio. disadvantaged (533) 93.4%
Asian (404) 98.8%
Students w/ disabilities (255) 94.5%
Two or more races (253) 93.3%

Nearest peer high schools

Cypress High School 94.0% Millikan High School 94.0% Westminster High School 90.2% Wilson High School 87.5% Mayfair High School 91.1%

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
16.4%
485 of 2,952 students

Absenteeism is up 10.2 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Orange County median
17.9% · school is better than 60% of 94 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 = 703
73.0%
incl. 40.1% exceeded
+9.3 pts above Orange County median (63.7%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 702
45.7%
incl. 20.9% exceeded
+8.6 pts above Orange County median (37.1%) · 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 39% -3.0
Hispanic / Latino 32% +3.2
Asian 14%
Two or more 8%
Black / African Am. 3%
Filipino 3%
Pacific Islander 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 14% -1.9
Socioeconomically disadv. 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.

District financial profile — Los Alamitos 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
$136.0M
+9.1% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$14,598
9,317 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 41.1%
Local: 50.3%
Federal: 8.6%
Instruction share
65.1%
of current spending · $8,621/pupil
Long-term debt
$273.4M
+63.8% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Los Alamitos 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
33%
248 admits / 756 seniors
+14.6 pp above peer median (18.2%) · Ranked #2 of 10 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 31.3% 2025 · 32.8%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
32.8%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 32.8%

Higher than 76% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Los Alamitos High School's UC Reach of 32.8% is in the top quartile statewide (median 18.5%; top 25% bar 32.0%) — but it's still below the top-10% bar of 53.3%.

For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 102.7% — a gap of 70 pp from where this school sits.

Overall, Los Alamitos High School's UC Reach is higher than 76% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
132.4%
1001 applications
Most seniors are applying to at least one of the six most selective UCs (applications counted at each campus).
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · Orange Co. Top 10% ≥ 294.1% · higher than 72% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
24.8%
248 / 1001 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 43% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
25.4%
63 enrolled of 248 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
8.3%
63 enrollees / 756 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
351:1
8.0 FTE counselors · 2,809 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
82%
619 of 755 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · +26.1 pp above · Orange Co. 60.5%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
94%
88% finished in 4 yrs · N=72 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6% · +5.8 pp above.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
27.1
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 76% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
5.6
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 68% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
756
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
2,915
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.70
92nd percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Los Alamitos High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Los Alamitos · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Los Alamitos High School sits near the top of its similar-school group (ranked #2 of 10): 33% vs. a peer median of 18%.
  • Its UC Reach has risen 4 points since 2018.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 14% (829→711 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -10%.
  • At its recent rate (-1.7%/yr), enrollment projects to ~2664 by 2029 — about 145 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

2809 students (2026)
~2664 projected (2029)
at -1.7%/yr

That's about 145 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
Los Alamitos High School Public 2809 32.8% -14%
Peer-group median 18.2% -10%
Cypress High School Public 2548 30.5% -2%
Millikan High School Public 3358 21.5% -3%
Westminster High School Public 2436 21.1% -11%
Wilson High School Public 3334 -9%
Mayfair High School Public 2293 10.0% +1%
Lakewood High School Public 2092 11.9% -26%
Anaheim High School Public 2604 18.2% -21%
John F Kennedy High School Public 1992 13.3% -13%
Cerritos High School Public 1954 48.4% -1%
Paramount High School Public 3370 11.8% -27%

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
4.00
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.26

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 4.08 16.5% 14.1% +2.4pp On target
UCLA 4.02 10.3% 9.4% +0.9pp On target
UC San Diego 3.98 25.0% 20.3% +4.7pp On target
UC Santa Barbara 3.98 30.8% 31.5% -0.7pp On target
UC Irvine 3.95 32.3% 24.7% +7.6pp Over
UC Davis 3.98 35.2% 32.7% +2.5pp On target
"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 Los Alamitos High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (24.8% actual vs. 21.7% 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 139 23 9 16.5% 3.0% 39.1% 4.08 4.29
UCLA → Elite 185 19 9 10.3% 2.5% 47.4% 4.02 4.31
UC San Diego → Selective 188 47 13 25.0% 6.2% 27.7% 3.98 4.28
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 172 53 8 30.8% 7.0% 15.1% 3.98 4.30
UC Irvine → Selective 195 63 20 32.3% 8.3% 31.7% 3.95 4.21
UC Davis → 122 43 4 35.2% 5.7% 9.3% 3.98 4.22
⚠ 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 senior class applies to UC, indicating strong college-going culture and UC pipeline development.
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.
UC Reach is solid. A meaningful share of the senior class is achieving UC admission, and there is likely room to grow both application volume and admission outcomes.
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.
The school generates broad UC access, but fewer students are reaching the most selective UC campuses (UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCSB, UCI). Targeted academic enrichment and campus-fit advising may help.
Berkeley/UCLA admit volume is modest relative to overall UC reach. This is common and reflects the highly selective nature of those campuses, but may be a target area for the school's highest-performing students.
UC Reach has improved meaningfully compared to the prior year — a positive trajectory worth monitoring and reinforcing.
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.
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