Upper Lake High School

Upper Lake · Lake County · Upper Lake Unified
Public Lake County 🏛 Upper Lake Unified → ~65 seniors CDS 1776976…
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Most similar nearby schools

Clear Lake High School → Kelseyville High School → Cloverdale High School → Willits High School → Redwood Collegiate Academy → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
305 (2018)321 (2026)
+5.2%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
66 (2018)75 (2026)
+13.6%

If this trend holds (+0.6%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~323 +2 $0
3 yr (2029) ~327 +6 $0
5 yr (2031) ~331 +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 Lake County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Action needed
Watch — engagement collapsing under a stable surface.

On the surface Upper Lake High School looks fine — enrollment is +13.6% vs. Lake County +7.8%, and 83.4% of students stay through year-end. But <strong>chronic absenteeism is at 36.8%, up +9.0 pts since 2016-17 (county median 36.2%). Disengagement leads departure — families pull back from the day-to-day before they formally leave. The demand signal usually follows within 2–3 years.

+13.6%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+7.8%  Lake County baseline
+5.8pp  gap vs. county
83.4%  retention (county median 82.6%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
83.4%
281 of 337 students

56 of 337 students who enrolled at Upper Lake High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (16.6% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Lake County median
82.6% · school is in the 67th percentile of 6 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 37th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (282) 82.3%
White (169) 87.0%
Hispanic / Latino (121) 83.5%
Students w/ disabilities (23) 65.2%

Nearest peer high schools

Clear Lake High School 80.7% Kelseyville High School 88.6% Cloverdale High School 91.9% Willits High School 82.9% Redwood Collegiate Academy 83.8%

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
36.8%
120 of 326 students

Absenteeism is up 9.0 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Lake County median
36.1% · school is worse than 50% of 6 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 = 73
26.0%
incl. 9.6% exceeded
-3.1 pts vs. Lake County median (29.1%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 72
8.3%
incl. 1.4% exceeded
On the Lake County median (8.6%) · 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 50%
Hispanic / Latino 35% +3.5
Two or more 7%
American Indian 6% -2.6
Not reported 1%
Black / African Am. 1% -1.2
Filipino 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 79% -2.8

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 — Upper Lake 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
$15.0M
+33.9% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,640
852 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 53.8%
Local: 29.5%
Federal: 16.7%
Instruction share
45.9%
of current spending · $7,468/pupil
Long-term debt
$22.7M
+300.5% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Upper Lake 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
9%
6 admits / 65 seniors
+2.3 pp above peer median (6.9%) · Ranked #3 of 8 similar schools
5-year trend
2018 · 6.1% 2025 · 9.2%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
6.9%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
9.2%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 9.2%

Higher than 16% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Upper Lake High School's UC Reach of 9.2% is below the California median (18.5%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53.3% or higher.

Overall, Upper Lake High School's UC Reach is higher than 16% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
75.4%
49 applications
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · higher than 48% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
12.2%
6 / 49 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 0% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
N/A
None enrolled of 6 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
N/A
None enrollees / 65 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
357:1
0.9 FTE counselors · 321 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
37%
26 of 70 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -18.8 pp vs. median · Lake Co. 24.0%.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
9.2
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)
N/A
Senior Class Size
65
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
307
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
0.67
16th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Upper Lake High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Upper Lake · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Upper Lake High School sits in the middle of its similar-school group (ranked #3 of 8): 9% vs. a peer median of 7%.
  • Its UC Reach has risen 3 points since 2018.
  • Senior-class enrollment is up 14% (66→75 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -10%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+0.6%/yr); projects to ~327 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

321 students (2026)
~327 projected (2029)
at +0.6%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Upper Lake High School Public 321 9.2% +14%
Peer-group median 6.9% -10%
Clear Lake High School Public 331 4.1% -26%
Kelseyville High School Public 507 5.5% +2%
Cloverdale High School Public 388 6.9% -21%
Willits High School Public 409 5.9% +11%
Redwood Collegiate Academy Public 129 16.0% -8%
Sequoia Career Academy Public 127 -48%
Middletown High School Public 417 7.0% -13%
South Valley High (continuation) Public 119 -30%
Ukiah Independent Study Academy Public 120 +0%
Calistoga Junior/Senior High Public 345 20.3% +32%

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
3.81
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.14

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 Santa Barbara 3.86 60.0% 27.4% +32.6pp 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.

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 14 3.80
UCLA → Elite 5 3.68
UC San Diego → Selective 8 3.90
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 10 6 60.0% 9.2% 3.86 4.14
UC Irvine → Selective 7 3.77
UC Davis → 5 3.82
⚠ 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.
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.
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 Lake County rankings →

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