Novato Charter

· Marin County · Novato Unified
Public Marin County 🏛 Novato Unified → CDS 2165417…
📄 Shareable scorecard →

Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Ross Valley Charter → Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy → Middle College High → Miwok Valley Elementary Charter → Live Oak Charter → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Novato 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
268 (2018)264 (2026)
-1.5%

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) ~264 +0 $0
3 yr (2029) ~263 -1 $0
5 yr (2031) ~262 -2 $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 Marin 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%
258 of 277 students

19 of 277 students who enrolled at Novato Charter this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (6.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Marin County median
93.6% · school is in the 38th percentile of 13 HS
Statewide median
88.7% · in the 76th percentile of 2,648 HS

Stability by student group

White (182) 92.3%
Socio. disadvantaged (47) 93.6%
Hispanic / Latino (40) 90.0%
Two or more races (36) 100.0%
Students w/ disabilities (36) 86.1%

Nearest peer high schools

Ross Valley Charter 95.1% Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy 86.8% Middle College High 98.3% Miwok Valley Elementary Charter 93.6% Live Oak Charter 94.0%

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: total enrollment.

Chronic absent
11.3%
31 of 275 students

Absenteeism is up 8.0 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Marin County median
16.9% · school is better than 85% of 13 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 — Novato 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
$128.9M
+8.9% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,892
7,206 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 41.4%
Local: 49.2%
Federal: 9.3%
Instruction share
58.9%
of current spending · $7,951/pupil
Long-term debt
$240.2M
+104.2% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Novato 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).

Novato Charter — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • At its recent rate (-0.2%/yr), enrollment projects to ~263 by 2029 — about 1 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

264 students (2026)
~263 projected (2029)
at -0.2%/yr

That's about 1 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
Novato Charter Public 264
Peer-group median 42.6% -4%
Ross Valley Charter Public 196
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy Public 261
Middle College High Public 290 70.8% -4%
Miwok Valley Elementary Charter Public 274
Live Oak Charter Public 271
Old Adobe Elementary Charter Public 268
John Henry High School Public 338 14.5% +36%
Highland Elementary Public 373
Voices College-Bound Language Academy At West Contra Costa County Public 415
Greenwood Academy Public 155 -59%

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 →

Is your school winning the families it should?

An Enrollment Trend Audit benchmarks your enrollment against nearby schools, shows who's gaining and losing families, and lays out a plan to make families choose you — built around the outcomes your families value. Built for principals, heads of school, and district leaders.

Request an Enrollment Trend Audit →