Sierra Academy Of Expeditionary Learning

· Nevada County · Nevada Joint Union High
Public Nevada County 🏛 Nevada Joint Union High → CDS 2966357…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

William & Marian Ghidotti High → Forest Charter School → Bitney Prep High → Silver Springs High (continuation) → Foresthill High School → Compare all similar →

No UC admissions data on file for Sierra Academy Of Expeditionary Learning.

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 (9–12)
194 (2018)176 (2026)
-9.3%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
31 (2018)39 (2026)
+25.8%

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) ~174 -2 $0
3 yr (2029) ~170 -6 $0
5 yr (2031) ~166 -10 $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 Nevada County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Healthy
Best in class — winning on demand and retention.

Sierra Academy Of Expeditionary Learning outperformed Nevada County on enrollment (school +25.8% vs. county -40.8%) AND maintains 86.3% stability. Replicable model — worth documenting what's working.

+25.8%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-40.8%  Nevada County baseline
+66.6pp  gap vs. county
86.3%  retention (county median 81.9%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
86.3%
176 of 204 students

28 of 204 students who enrolled at Sierra Academy Of Expeditionary Learning this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (13.7% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Nevada County median
81.9% · school is in the 62nd percentile of 8 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 47th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (139) 83.5%
Socio. disadvantaged (102) 85.3%
Students w/ disabilities (36) 86.1%
Hispanic / Latino (26) 80.8%

Nearest peer high schools

William & Marian Ghidotti High 95.6% Forest Charter School 74.8% Bitney Prep High 77.5% Silver Springs High (continuation) 34.9% Foresthill High School 88.1%

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
22.0%
44 of 200 students

Absenteeism is down 4.6 pp since 2016-17. Engagement improving — a positive trajectory worth understanding and reinforcing.

Nevada County median
22.0% · school is worse than 43% of 7 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 = 40
42.5%
incl. 20.0% exceeded
-8.8 pts vs. Nevada County median (51.3%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 42
11.9%
incl. 7.1% exceeded
-8.1 pts vs. Nevada County median (20.0%) · 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 67% -3.6
Hispanic / Latino 13% +1.4
Two or more 10%
Not reported 7% +2.3
American Indian 1%
Asian 1%
Pacific Islander 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 44% -10.5
Socioeconomically disadv. 6%

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 — Nevada Joint 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
$51.0M
+5.0% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$20,472
2,492 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 25.5%
Local: 67.7%
Federal: 6.8%
Instruction share
51.2%
of current spending · $9,129/pupil
Long-term debt
$51.4M
+101.0% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Nevada Joint 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).

Sierra Academy Of Expeditionary Learning — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is up 26% (31→39 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -2%.
  • At its recent rate (-1.2%/yr), enrollment projects to ~170 by 2029 — about 6 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

176 students (2026)
~170 projected (2029)
at -1.2%/yr

That's about 6 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
Sierra Academy Of Expeditionary Learning Public 176 +26%
Peer-group median 6.0% -2%
William & Marian Ghidotti High Public 167 +12%
Forest Charter School Public 284 5.0% -9%
Bitney Prep High Public 93 +35%
Silver Springs High (continuation) Public 94 -29%
Foresthill High School Public 204 7.1% +5%
John Muir Charter Public 543 -90%
Core Charter School Public 206 -12%
American River Charter Public 274 +186%
Yuba County Career Preparatory Charter Public 217 -66%
South Lindhurst Continuation High Public 232 +51%

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 →

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