Pacifica High

· Ventura County · Oxnard Union High
Public Ventura County 🏛 Oxnard Union High → ~722 seniors CDS 5672546…
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Most similar nearby schools

Oxnard High School → Channel Islands High School → Rio Mesa High School → Hueneme High School → Ventura High School → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
3,153 (2018)2,414 (2026)
-23.4%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
782 (2018)736 (2026)
-5.9%

If this trend holds (-3.3%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~2,335 -79 $0
3 yr (2029) ~2,184 -230 $0
5 yr (2031) ~2,043 -371 $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 Ventura County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Mixed signal
Outperforming on demand; some mid-year churn to look at.

Pacifica High is recruiting families faster than Ventura County is shrinking (school -5.9% vs. county -10.3%), but 309 students didn't make it to year-end. The recruitment engine works; the mid-year exits are worth understanding. Chronic absenteeism is rising (25.5%, +7.8 pts since 2016-17) — a watch signal worth monitoring as a leading indicator.

-5.9%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-10.3%  Ventura County baseline
+4.4pp  gap vs. county
89.1%  retention (county median 89.0%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
89.1%
2,515 of 2,824 students

309 of 2,824 students who enrolled at Pacifica High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (10.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Ventura County median
89.0% · school is in the 53rd percentile of 38 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 60th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Hispanic / Latino (2,627) 89.2%
Socio. disadvantaged (2,345) 89.2%
English learners (532) 85.5%
Students w/ disabilities (428) 85.5%
Filipino (50) 92.0%
Black / African Am. (42) 76.2%

Nearest peer high schools

Oxnard High School 90.1% Channel Islands High School 90.4% Rio Mesa High School 86.3% Hueneme High School 85.6% Ventura High School 89.0%

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: grades 9–12.

Chronic absent
25.5%
701 of 2,751 students

Absenteeism is up 7.8 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Ventura County median
17.9% · school is worse than 68% of 37 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 = 724
36.7%
incl. 10.8% exceeded
-15.1 pts vs. Ventura County median (51.8%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 727
10.9%
incl. 3.4% exceeded
-9.8 pts vs. Ventura County median (20.7%) · 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 93%
Black / African Am. 2%
Filipino 2%
White 1%
Asian 1%
Two or more 1%
Pacific Islander 0%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 80% +1.8
Homeless 16% +8.1
Socioeconomically disadv. 15%
English learners 14% -5.3

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 — Oxnard Union High (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
$296.7M
+23.7% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,121
17,327 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 51.9%
Local: 37.2%
Federal: 10.9%
Instruction share
58.7%
of current spending · $8,470/pupil
Long-term debt
$403.2M
+144.3% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Oxnard Union High 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
12%
87 admits / 722 seniors
On the peer median (13.0%) · Ranked #8 of 10 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 9.1% 2025 · 12.0%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
13.0%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
12.0%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 12.0%

Higher than 28% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Pacifica High's UC Reach of 12.0% is below the California median (18.5%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53.3% or higher.

Overall, Pacifica High's UC Reach is higher than 28% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
38.8%
280 applications
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · Ventura Co. Top 10% ≥ 198.2% · higher than 17% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
31.1%
87 / 280 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 72% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
21.8%
19 enrolled of 87 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
2.6%
19 enrollees / 722 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
322:1
7.5 FTE counselors · 2,414 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
41%
269 of 649 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -14.5 pp vs. median · Ventura Co. 48.9%.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
9.1
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 20% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
2.1
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 28% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
722
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
2,675
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
0.75
24th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Pacifica High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Pacifica High sits near the bottom of its similar-school group (ranked #8 of 10): 12% vs. a peer median of 13%.
  • Its UC Reach has risen 3 points since 2018.
  • Across the top-6 UC campuses, Pacifica High is admitting at roughly +10 percentage points above what its average applicant GPA (3.838) alone would predict (31% actual vs. 20% expected). That's a meaningful signal — it can reflect UC's track record with this school's graduates, students presenting strongly in UC's holistic review (essays, EC's, context), or institutional familiarity helping at the margin. The data can't distinguish which, but the pattern itself is real and worth understanding.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 6% (782→736 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -9%.
  • In business terms, this is market-share growth during a market contraction. Ventura County's senior population shrank 10% over the same window — Pacifica High only shrank 6%. So Pacifica High picked up about 4 percentage points of relative share — families chose it over the alternatives even as the overall pool got smaller. That's overperforming the market in a shrinking market.
  • At its recent rate (-3.3%/yr), enrollment projects to ~2184 by 2029 — about 230 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

2414 students (2026)
~2184 projected (2029)
at -3.3%/yr

That's about 230 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
Pacifica High Public 2414 12.0% -6%
Peer-group median 13.0% -9%
Oxnard High School Public 2332 12.2% -3%
Channel Islands High School Public 2238 12.7% +2%
Rio Mesa High School Public 1836 10.1% -3%
Hueneme High School Public 1862 13.0% -3%
Ventura High School Public 1927 20.8% -14%
Adolfo Camarillo High School Public 2061 25.0% -17%
Buena High School Public 1487 7.5% -20%
Newbury Park High School Public 1982 26.7% -20%
Vista Real Charter High School Public 1050 -57%
Santa Paula High School Public 1456 19.8% +2%

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
3.84
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.11

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 3.85 22.7% 11.6% +11.1pp Over
UCLA 3.85 9.3% 8.9% +0.3pp On target
UC San Diego 3.79 43.2% 25.3% +17.9pp Over
UC Santa Barbara 3.81 40.4% 26.7% +13.7pp Over
UC Irvine 3.89 21.2% 22.4% -1.3pp On target
UC Davis 3.83 61.8% 32.1% +29.7pp Over
"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 Pacifica High sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 10.5 points above what their GPAs predict (31.1% actual vs. 20.5% 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 44 10 7 22.7% 1.4% 70.0% 3.85 4.15
UCLA → Elite 54 5 3 9.3% 0.7% 60.0% 3.85 4.22
UC San Diego → Selective 44 19 5 43.2% 2.6% 26.3% 3.79 4.05
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 52 21 40.4% 2.9% 3.81 4.17
UC Irvine → Selective 52 11 21.2% 1.5% 3.89 4.15
UC Davis → 34 21 4 61.8% 2.9% 19.0% 3.83 4.05
⚠ 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 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.
Fewer than 15% of seniors are earning UC admission. This may reflect a high non-UC college-going rate, significant A-G completion gaps, or an early-stage UC pipeline. A deeper review of A-G readiness and counseling capacity is warranted.
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.
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.
Compare with other schools → See Ventura County rankings →

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