Walnut High School

Walnut · Los Angeles County · Walnut Valley Unified
Public Los Angeles County 🏛 Walnut Valley Unified → ~549 seniors CDS 1973460…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

John a Rowland High School → Diamond Bar High School → West Covina High School → South Hills High School → Glendora High School → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
2,527 (2018)2,138 (2026)
-15.4%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
668 (2018)547 (2026)
-18.1%

If this trend holds (-2.1%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~2,094 -44 $0
3 yr (2029) ~2,008 -130 $0
5 yr (2031) ~1,926 -212 $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 Los Angeles County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Action needed
Strong inside, weak at the gate.

Families who enroll at Walnut High School stay (96.1% stability — elite). But enrollment is dropping 2.2× the county rate (school -18.1% vs. county -8.2%). The audit question isn't why students leave — it's why fewer families are choosing to enroll in the first place.

-18.1%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-8.2%  Los Angeles County baseline
-9.9pp  gap vs. county
96.1%  retention (county median 87.3%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
96.1%
2,113 of 2,198 students

85 of 2,198 students who enrolled at Walnut High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (3.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Los Angeles County median
87.3% · school is in the 94th percentile of 387 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 94th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Asian (1,157) 96.5%
Hispanic / Latino (680) 95.7%
Socio. disadvantaged (654) 94.3%
English learners (231) 90.0%
Students w/ disabilities (195) 88.7%
Filipino (137) 97.8%

Nearest peer high schools

John a Rowland High School 90.2% Diamond Bar High School 96.2% West Covina High School 91.8% South Hills High School 90.9% Glendora High School 94.8%

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
10.3%
226 of 2,189 students

Absenteeism is up 5.6 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Los Angeles County median
25.2% · school is better than 92% of 381 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 = 543
79.0%
incl. 51.2% exceeded
+21.0 pts above Los Angeles County median (58.0%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 542
64.2%
incl. 42.8% exceeded
★ Top 10% CA
+39.2 pts above Los Angeles County median (25.0%) · 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

Asian 52%
Hispanic / Latino 30% -1.6
Filipino 8% +1.5
White 4%
Two or more 4%
Black / African Am. 1%
Pacific Islander 0%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 25% -7.5
English learners 8%
Socioeconomically disadv. 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 — Walnut 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
$198.8M
+14.0% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$14,735
13,493 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 56.1%
Local: 35.2%
Federal: 8.7%
Instruction share
57.2%
of current spending · $7,297/pupil
Long-term debt
$221.0M
+68.0% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Walnut 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
51%
281 admits / 549 seniors
+30.6 pp above peer median (20.6%) · Ranked #2 of 11 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 30.8% 2025 · 51.2%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
51.2%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 51.2%

Higher than 89% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Walnut High School's UC Reach of 51.2% 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 52 pp from where this school sits.

Overall, Walnut High School's UC Reach is higher than 89% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

How they did at each UC — 2019 entrants
Campus Entered Finished in 4 yrs Finished in 6 yrs
UC Riverside 44 77% 96%
UC Irvine 34 88% 100%
UC Berkeley 24 83% 96%
UCLA 20 90% 100%
Only campuses with at least 20 entrants from this school shown. Source: UC Information Center.
UC Application Reach
234.1%
1285 applications
Strong UC pursuit. The typical senior is applying to about 2 top-6 UC campuses — a signal of a college-driven student body.
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · Los Angeles Co. Top 10% ≥ 252.7% · higher than 88% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
21.9%
281 / 1285 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 26% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
29.5%
83 enrolled of 281 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
15.1%
83 enrollees / 549 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
267:1
8.0 FTE counselors · 2,138 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 71 fewer students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
72%
390 of 544 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · +15.8 pp above · Los Angeles Co. 68.2%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
97%
83% finished in 4 yrs · N=161 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6% · +8.3 pp above.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
37.7
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 87% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
7.3
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 77% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
549
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
2,148
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.58
86th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Walnut High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Walnut · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Walnut High School sits near the top of its similar-school group (ranked #2 of 11): 51% vs. a peer median of 21%.
  • Its UC Reach has slipped 12 points since 2018 — worth watching.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 18% (668→547 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of -4%.
  • At its recent rate (-2.1%/yr), enrollment projects to ~2008 by 2029 — about 130 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

2138 students (2026)
~2008 projected (2029)
at -2.1%/yr

That's about 130 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
Walnut High School Public 2138 51.2% -18%
Peer-group median 20.6% -4%
John a Rowland High School Public 2071 24.0% -2%
Diamond Bar High School Public 2622 64.6% -20%
West Covina High School Public 1797 17.6% -18%
South Hills High School Public 1625 18.8% -1%
Glendora High School Public 1998 16.9% -22%
El Dorado High School Public 2054 22.4% +12%
Bonita High School Public 1922 26.6% +0%
Nogales High School Public 1468 15.5% -13%
Chino High School Public 2224 14.7% +1%
Ruben S Ayala High School Public 2564 44.8% -6%

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
3.90
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.18

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 3.97 11.2% 12.2% -1.0pp On target
UCLA 3.92 9.0% 9.0% -0.0pp On target
UC San Diego 3.87 24.6% 23.0% +1.6pp On target
UC Santa Barbara 3.90 31.5% 28.5% +3.0pp On target
UC Irvine 3.86 17.0% 21.7% -4.7pp On target
UC Davis 3.88 41.1% 32.2% +8.9pp 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 Walnut High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (21.9% actual vs. 21.0% 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 179 20 15 11.2% 3.6% 75.0% 3.97 4.14
UCLA → Elite 223 20 14 9.0% 3.6% 70.0% 3.92 4.26
UC San Diego → Selective 244 60 22 24.6% 10.9% 36.7% 3.87 4.22
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 200 63 4 31.5% 11.5% 6.3% 3.90 4.22
UC Irvine → Selective 259 44 17 17.0% 8.0% 38.6% 3.86 4.17
UC Davis → 180 74 11 41.1% 13.5% 14.9% 3.88 4.12
⚠ 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 very strong — more than 51% of seniors are earning UC admission. This places the school among California's highest-performing high schools on this metric.
Strong UC Reach paired with low yield: students are earning UC admission at high rates and then enrolling elsewhere. The pattern is characteristic of competitive college-preparatory schools where many students choose more selective private colleges or out-of-state flagships over UC — UC functions as a strong backup option rather than a first choice.
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 Los Angeles County rankings →

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