San Lorenzo Valley High School

Felton · Santa Cruz County · San Lorenzo Valley Unified
Public Santa Cruz County 🏛 San Lorenzo Valley Unified → ~163 seniors CDS 4469807…
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Most similar nearby schools

Scotts Valley High School → Pacific Collegiate Charter → Harbor High School → Santa Cruz High School → Downtown College Preparatory → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
726 (2018)537 (2026)
-26.0%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
171 (2018)126 (2026)
-26.3%

If this trend holds (-3.7%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~517 -20 $0
3 yr (2029) ~480 -57 $0
5 yr (2031) ~445 -92 $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 Santa Cruz County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Critical
Material decline in demand.

Enrollment -26.3% vs. county +3.1% — losing 8.5× the county rate. Each enrolled family matters more, but the engine of new enrollment is breaking down.

-26.3%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+3.1%  Santa Cruz County baseline
-29.4pp  gap vs. county
92.5%  retention (county median 90.8%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
92.5%
554 of 599 students

45 of 599 students who enrolled at San Lorenzo Valley High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (7.5% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Santa Cruz County median
90.8% · school is in the 73rd percentile of 15 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 78th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (477) 93.5%
Socio. disadvantaged (154) 89.6%
Hispanic / Latino (78) 89.7%
Students w/ disabilities (57) 87.7%
Two or more races (36) 88.9%

Nearest peer high schools

Scotts Valley High School 96.3% Pacific Collegiate Charter 92.9% Harbor High School 90.8% Santa Cruz High School 94.1% Downtown College Preparatory 90.2%

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
25.8%
153 of 592 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.

Santa Cruz County median
18.8% · school is worse than 71% of 14 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 = 124
66.1%
incl. 41.1% exceeded
On the Santa Cruz County median (66.1%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 123
39.0%
incl. 14.6% exceeded
+4.8 pts above Santa Cruz County median (34.2%) · 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 79%
Hispanic / Latino 13% +1.3
Two or more 7%
Black / African Am. 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 20%
Socioeconomically disadv. 8% -2.2

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 — San Lorenzo Valley 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
$53.0M
+18.7% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$21,765
2,434 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 35.8%
Local: 59.2%
Federal: 5.0%
Instruction share
46.6%
of current spending · $6,125/pupil
Long-term debt
$63.6M
+60.1% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 San Lorenzo Valley 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
22%
36 admits / 163 seniors
-22.6 pp vs. peer median (44.7%) · Ranked #6 of 6 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 11.1% 2025 · 22.1%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
44.7%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
22.1%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 22.1%

Higher than 59% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

San Lorenzo Valley High School's UC Reach of 22.1% is above the California median (18.5%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53.3% or higher.

Against similar schools, San Lorenzo Valley High School trails the peer-group median (44.7%) — even though it looks strong vs. the state average.

For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 102.7% — a gap of 81 pp from where this school sits.

Overall, San Lorenzo Valley High School's UC Reach is higher than 59% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
72.4%
118 applications
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · higher than 46% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
30.5%
36 / 118 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 70% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
8.3%
3 enrolled of 36 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
1.8%
3 enrollees / 163 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
268:1
2.0 FTE counselors · 537 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 70 fewer students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
63%
100 of 159 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · +7.0 pp above · Santa Cruz Co. 58.9%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
90%
67% finished in 4 yrs · N=21 entered 2005
In context: CA median 85.3% · +5.2 pp above.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
17.8
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 57% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
4.9
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 63% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
163
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
578
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.26
67th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

San Lorenzo Valley High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Felton · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, San Lorenzo Valley High School sits near the bottom of its similar-school group (ranked #6 of 6): 22% vs. a peer median of 45%.
  • Its UC Reach has risen 14 points since 2018.
  • Across the top-6 UC campuses, San Lorenzo Valley High School is admitting at roughly +10 percentage points above what its average applicant GPA (4.009) alone would predict (35% actual vs. 25% 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 26% (171→126 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -0%.
  • At its recent rate (-3.7%/yr), enrollment projects to ~480 by 2029 — about 57 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

537 students (2026)
~480 projected (2029)
at -3.7%/yr

That's about 57 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 Lorenzo Valley High School Public 537 22.1% -26%
Peer-group median 44.7% -0%
Scotts Valley High School Public 592 44.7% -10%
Pacific Collegiate Charter Public 551 -14%
Harbor High School Public 994 28.3% +2%
Santa Cruz High School Public 1060 45.2% +2%
Downtown College Preparatory Public 520 +130%
Ceiba College Preparatory Academy Public 494 -26%
Soquel High School Public 1055 27.7% +7%
Gunderson High Public 714 -24%
University Preparatory Academy Charter Public 731 +12%
Saratoga High School Public 1143 72.9% -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
4.00
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.22

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 34.8% 13.9% +20.9pp Over
UC San Diego 3.95 32.0% 21.0% +11.0pp Over
UC Santa Barbara 4.02 40.9% 33.8% +7.1pp Over
UC Irvine 4.04 33.3% 28.1% +5.3pp Over
UC Davis 3.98 33.3% 32.7% +0.6pp 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 Lorenzo Valley High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 9.6 points above what their GPAs predict (35.0% actual vs. 25.4% 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 23 8 3 34.8% 4.9% 37.5% 4.07 4.23
UCLA → Elite 15 3.96
UC San Diego → Selective 25 8 32.0% 4.9% 3.95 4.22
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 22 9 40.9% 5.5% 4.02 4.25
UC Irvine → Selective 12 4 33.3% 2.5% 4.04
UC Davis → 21 7 33.3% 4.3% 3.98 4.17
⚠ 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.
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.
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.
Compare with other schools → See Santa Cruz County rankings →

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