San Dieguito Academy

Encinitas · San Diego County
Public San Diego County ~547 seniors CDS 3768346…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

LA Costa Canyon High School → Canyon Crest Academy → Rancho Buena Vista High School → Mt Carmel High School → Westview High School → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
1,902 (2018)1,723 (2026)
-9.4%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
477 (2018)432 (2026)
-9.4%

If this trend holds (-1.2%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~1,702 -21 $0
3 yr (2029) ~1,660 -63 $0
5 yr (2031) ~1,620 -103 $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.

Healthy
Holding share of a shrinking market.

San Dieguito Academy's enrollment is tracking San Diego County's baseline (-9.4% vs. -7.8%), and 96.5% stability is elite. The demographic tide is the headwind; you're holding your share.

-9.4%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-7.8%  San Diego County baseline
-1.6pp  gap vs. county
96.5%  retention (county median 88.5%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
96.5%
1,797 of 1,863 students

66 of 1,863 students who enrolled at San Dieguito Academy this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (3.5% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

San Diego County median
88.5% · school is in the 94th percentile of 121 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 96th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (1,146) 96.3%
Socio. disadvantaged (505) 95.6%
Hispanic / Latino (472) 97.0%
Students w/ disabilities (264) 93.6%
Two or more races (157) 96.8%
English learners (90) 94.4%

Nearest peer high schools

LA Costa Canyon High School 95.1% Canyon Crest Academy 98.0% Rancho Buena Vista High School 88.6% Mt Carmel High School 94.8% Westview High School 96.6%

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
12.3%
228 of 1,850 students

Absenteeism is up 5.1 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 better than 82% 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, 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 = 416
72.8%
incl. 42.8% exceeded
+12.2 pts above San Diego County median (60.6%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 416
51.2%
incl. 29.1% exceeded
+26.8 pts above San Diego County median (24.4%) · 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 61% -1.8
Hispanic / Latino 26%
Two or more 9% +1.5
Asian 4%
Filipino 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 25%
Socioeconomically disadv. 15% +1.6
English learners 4% -2.0
Homeless 3% +1.7

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.

University of California outcomes · Class of 2025
UC Reach
42%
231 admits / 547 seniors
+21.2 pp above peer median (21.0%) · Ranked #4 of 11 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 38.9% 2025 · 42.2%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
42.2%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 42.2%

Higher than 84% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

San Dieguito Academy's UC Reach of 42.2% 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 60 pp from where this school sits.

Overall, San Dieguito Academy's UC Reach is higher than 84% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
197.1%
1078 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% · San Diego Co. Top 10% ≥ 216.5% · higher than 84% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
21.4%
231 / 1078 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 23% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
30.3%
70 enrolled of 231 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
12.8%
70 enrollees / 547 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
345:1
5.0 FTE counselors · 1,723 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
81%
440 of 541 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · +25.4 pp above · San Diego Co. 63.4%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
90%
81% finished in 4 yrs · N=63 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6% · +1.9 pp above.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
31.4
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 81% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
8.2
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 82% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
547
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
1,843
All grades · CDE Census Day

San Dieguito Academy — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Encinitas · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, San Dieguito Academy sits in the middle of its similar-school group (ranked #4 of 11): 42% vs. a peer median of 21%.
  • Its UC Reach has slipped 8 points since 2018 — worth watching.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 9% (477→432 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -7%.
  • At its recent rate (-1.2%/yr), enrollment projects to ~1660 by 2029 — about 63 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

1723 students (2026)
~1660 projected (2029)
at -1.2%/yr

That's about 63 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
San Dieguito Academy Public 1723 42.2% -9%
Peer-group median 21.0% -7%
LA Costa Canyon High School Public 1841 18.9% +8%
Canyon Crest Academy Public 1977 92.7% -5%
Rancho Buena Vista High School Public 1842 16.0% -24%
Mt Carmel High School Public 1818 22.3% +2%
Westview High School Public 2067 74.2% -9%
Vista High School Public 1635 13.0% -25%
San Pasqual High School Public 1852 19.6% -26%
Oceanside High School Public 1903 13.0% -22%
Sage Creek High School Public 1236 39.8% -2%
Scripps Ranch High Public 1920 42.8% -3%

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
4.01
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.20

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 4.07 14.6% 14.0% +0.6pp On target
UCLA 4.06 11.6% 9.6% +2.1pp On target
UC San Diego 3.96 23.4% 20.9% +2.5pp On target
UC Santa Barbara 4.00 26.7% 32.5% -5.8pp Under
UC Irvine 3.93 14.4% 24.0% -9.6pp Under
UC Davis 4.02 35.5% 33.0% +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 San Dieguito Academy sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (21.4% actual vs. 22.5% 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 158 23 11 14.6% 4.2% 47.8% 4.07 4.19
UCLA → Elite 189 22 15 11.6% 4.0% 68.2% 4.06 4.21
UC San Diego → Selective 205 48 14 23.4% 8.8% 29.2% 3.96 4.22
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 221 59 19 26.7% 10.8% 32.2% 4.00 4.24
UC Irvine → Selective 139 20 14.4% 3.7% 3.93 4.15
UC Davis → 166 59 11 35.5% 10.8% 18.6% 4.02 4.15
⚠ 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.
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.
Compare with other schools → See San Diego County rankings →

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