High School Report Cards
The Times today is publishing selected “quality indicators” for Orange County high schools, released annually by the California Department of Education. The data comes from a variety of sources, including the schools themselves. The information is compiled on every high school to help parents, educators and policymakers spot trends in performance.
The four-year completion rate and the college attendance information is from the 1995-96 school year and is the latest such data available. The SAT and AP information is from the 1996-97 school year.
Notes to the Tables
* Four-year completion rate is an estimate of the percentage of the current ninth-grade class that will stay in school through the 12th grade. It is based on the combined dropout rate for all four high school grades during the 1995-96 school year.
* SAT/ACT above average is the percentage of seniors who scored above the national average on the SAT or the ACT, which colleges use when making admissions decisions. For example, the rate of 50 would mean that half of the seniors taking one of the tests were scored above the national average. The national average for the SAT, which measures verbal and mathematics reasoning, is 1,000.
Additional Information
Other available statistics include information about student background and enrollment. This additional information and the information appearing on these pages can be obtained:
* from the state Department of Education at (916) 657-3740.
* on the Internet at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ftpbranch/retdiv/epic/hspr96-97/.
* from your local school or school district office.
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Orange County SAT Scores
Below are the average SAT scores of students taking the college entrance test at Orange County public high schools, with the highest-scoring schools on top. The first column is the combined average score, the second shows the average score on the test’s verbal portion, the third is the average math score, the fourth shows the percentage of seniors tested, and the fifth is the percentage of students judged to be of limited proficiency in English.
*--*
School Name SAT avg. Verbal Math Percent LEP University 1208 574 634 74.8 12.5 Sunny Hills 1157 545 612 78.9 10.4 Laguna Hills 1136 546 590 67.8 8.1 Irvine 1130 541 589 57 7.8 Brea Olinda 1118 538 580 53.9 8.5 Woodbridge 1116 529 587 62.3 12.9 Esperanza 1113 542 571 58.8 2.8 Mission Viejo 1112 543 569 49.8 4.2 Troy 1109 536 573 56.4 16.5 Foothill 1109 534 575 66.3 12.5 Corona del Mar 1109 540 569 74.1 2.1 Villa Park 1101 530 571 53.5 7.4 Marina 1094 528 566 53.2 6.7 Pacifica 1092 535 557 36 6.8 Laguna Beach 1092 551 541 58.1 2.2 Canyon 1090 526 564 68 5.5 Newport Harbor 1090 537 553 51.2 10.6 Trabuco Hills 1088 530 558 43.5 4.8 Dana Hills 1085 532 553 40.4 9.3 Aliso Niguel 1085 525 560 48.2 3.2 Kennedy 1084 503 581 47.9 8.5 El Toro 1083 527 556 59.1 6.3 Fountain Valley 1082 518 564 54.4 10.8 San Clemente 1078 533 545 42 7.6 Los Alamitos 1076 519 557 65.6 1.7 Cypress 1074 511 563 36.1 7.8 Ocean View 1073 514 559 36.7 32.4 El Dorado 1069 513 556 57.9 4.2 Capistrano Valley 1068 519 549 36.9 9.7 Edison 1068 514 554 56.2 7.0 Valencia 1066 507 559 33.2 31.6 El Modena 1056 516 540 54.5 20.2 Huntington Beach 1054 520 534 47.9 8.3 La Quinta 1050 500 550 34.1 30.7 Estancia 1043 511 532 21.5 39.4 Fullerton 1038 508 530 32 25.5 Katella 1028 478 550 28.7 29.2 Bolsa Grande 1025 475 550 30.1 44.1 Tustin 1023 497 526 34.4 25.2 Sonora 1020 505 515 37 17.7 Costa Mesa 1012 482 530 42 28.2 Garden Grove 1010 478 532 40.2 24.8 Orange 997 489 508 38.2 34.1 Westminster 990 465 525 31.7 54.0 Los Amigos 988 452 536 36.7 42.1 Loara 984 469 515 43.8 28.5 Magnolia 983 482 501 27 33.3 Rancho Alamitos 982 451 531 29.5 31.7 Western 966 468 498 32.1 17.0 La Habra 962 470 492 46 15.0 Savanna 932 450 482 23.6 22.3 Buena Park 918 439 479 37.6 21.4 Santiago 913 423 490 25.9 50.4 Saddleback 911 435 476 25.5 44.8 Anaheim 865 407 458 20.1 48.8 Valley 859 396 463 18.6 56.6 Santa Ana 847 398 449 15 70.0 Century 836 416 420 31.3 53.7
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Beating the National Average
This table shows the percentage of seniors from local public high schools who scored at or above the national average of 1016 on the SAT.
High School: Percent
Sunny Hills High: 78.9
University High: 74.8
Corona del Mar High: 74.1
Canyon High: 68
Laguna Hills High: 67.8
Foothill High: 66.3
Los Alamitos High: 65.6
Woodbridge High: 62.3
El Toro High: 59.1
Esperanza High: 58.8
Laguna Beach High: 58.1
El Dorado High: 57.9
Irvine High: 57
Troy High: 56.4
Edison High: 56.2
El Modena High: 54.5
Fountain Valley High: 54.4
Brea-Olinda High: 53.9
Villa Park High: 53.5
Marina High: 53.2
Newport Harbor High: 51.2
Mission Viejo High: 49.8
Aliso Niguel High: 48.2
John F. Kennedy High: 47.9
Huntington Beach High: 47.9
La Habra High: 46
Loara High: 43.8
Trabuco Hills High: 43.5
Costa Mesa High: 42
San Clemente High: 42
Dana Hills High: 40.4
Garden Grove High: 40.2
Orange High: 38.2
Buena Park High: 37.6
Sonora High: 37
Capistrano Valley High: 36.9
Ocean View High: 36.7
Los Amigos High: 36.7
Cypress High: 36.1
Pacifica High: 36
Tustin High: 34.4
La Quinta High: 34.1
Valencia High: 33.2
Western High: 32.1
Fullerton High: 32
Westminster High: 31.7
Century High: 31.3
Bolsa Grande High: 30.1
Rancho Alamitos High: 29.5
Katella High: 28.7
Magnolia High: 27
Santiago High: 25.9
Saddleback High: 25.5
Savanna High: 23.6
Estancia High: 21.5
Anaheim High: 20.1
Santa Ana Valley High: 18.6
Santa Ana High: 15
Completion Rates
Below are the percentages of Orange County high school students who, based on the latest four-year dropout rate, are expected to complete all four years of schooling.
Cypress: 100
Sunny Hills: 100
Troy: 100
Mission Viejo: 99.6
El Dorado: 99.5
La Habra: 99.3
Western: 99.3
Foothill: 99.2
Los Alamitos: 99.0
Sonora: 99.0
Corona Del Mar: 98.9
Magnolia: 98.7
Fullerton: 98.6
Loara: 98.6
Tustin: 98.5
Brea-Olinda: 98.4
Buena Park: 98.4
Pacifica: 98.3
Estancia: 98.2
Kennedy: 98.2
Rancho Alamitos: 98.0
Aliso Niguel: 97.9
San Clemente: 97.7
Trabuco Hills: 97.7
Fountain Valley: 97.6
Laguna Hills: 97.6
Katella: 97.6
Valencia: 97.5
Esperanza: 97.4
Edison: 97.1
El Toro: 96.9
Laguna Beach: 96.8
Costa Mesa: 96.4
Dana Hills: 96.3
Newport Harbor: 96.3
Savanna: 96.3
Canyon: 96.1
Garden Grove: 95.7
Villa Park: 95.5
Capistrano Valley: 95.4
Marina: 95.4
Anaheim: 95.0
Irvine: 94.9
Woodbridge: 94.9
El Modena: 94.6
Huntington Beach: 94.2
Los Amigos: 93.6
La Quinta: 93.1
University: 93.0
Bolsa Grande: 92.0
Orange: 91.2
Santiago: 89.6
Valley: 89.6
Westminster: 88.0
Ocean View: 83.7
Santa Ana: 81.5
Saddleback: 80.0
Century: 78.4
University of California Credit
Below is the percentage of graduating students in each high school who took courses accepted by the University of California system as meeting its admission standards. The UC institutions require two years of social science, four years of English, three years of mathematics, two years of laboratory science, two years of foreign language, one year of visual or performing art and three years of elective college preparatory courses.
OC High School: Percent
Sunny Hills: 78.7%
Laguna Beach: 74.9%
Laguna Hills: 71.7%
Villa Park: 63.5%
Troy: 62.4%
El Modena: 61.5%
Marina: 60.8%
Fountain Valley: 59.7%
Corona del Mar: 58.8%
Edison: 57.9%
Canyon: 54.0%
Foothill: 53.4%
Los Alamitos: 53.4%
Newport Harbor: 53.3%
El Toro: 53.2%
Mission Viejo: 51.2%
San Clemente: 49.9%
Aliso Niguel: 49.4%
Esperanza: 46.0%
Ocean View: 45.8%
Trabuco Hills: 45.8%
Brea-Olinda: 45.7%
Sonora: 44.4%
Dana Hills: 43.2%
La Habra: 42.3%
Capistrano Valley: 42.1%
Huntington Beach: 41.0%
El Dorado: 40.9%
Fullerton: 39.2%
Costa Mesa: 38.1%
Estancia: 37.1%
Westminster: 36.4%
Buena Park: 32.9%
Valencia: 29.7%
Garden Grove: 28.2%
Pacifica: 27.8%
Tustin: 27.0%
Magnolia: 25.9%
Century: 25.1%
La Quinta: 24.4%
Saddleback: 24.4%
Kennedy: 24.0%
Loara: 23.9%
Cypress: 23.8%
Orange: 23.6%
Santa Ana: 23.2%
Katella: 22.1%
Rancho Alamitos: 21.9%
Valley: 21.8%
Bolsa Grande: 19.8%
Western: 18.8%
Savanna: 18.4%
Santiago: 17.2%
Los Amigos: 15.2%
Anaheim: 14.4%
University: N/A
Woodbridge: N/A
Irvine: N/A
SAT Rankings
Last year, Orange County ranked fourth in the state on SAT scores. This year, it slipped to eighth.
1997 report
1. El Dorado: 1081
2. Mendocino: 1080
3. Marin: 1076
4. Orange: 1073
5. Humboldt: 1068
6. Santa Clara: 1065
7. Yolo: 1062
8. Napa: 1060
9. Contra Costa: 1058 *
1998 report
1. El Dorado: 1090
2. Mendocino: 1086
3. Humboldt: 1084
4. Marin: 1083
5. Yolo: 1075
6. Santa Clara: 1072
7. San Luis Obispo: 1071
8. Orange: 1066
9. Nevada: 1064
County Rankings
Among the state’s five most heavily populated and urbanized counties, Orange County students taking the SAT were outscored only by those in Santa Clara County, which embraces Silicon Valley.
Rank: Avg
6. Santa Clara: 1072
8. Orange: 1066
27. San Diego: 1016
48. San Bernardino: 964
49. Los Angeles: 961
Successful AP Results
Orange County had the second-highest percentage of high school students getting scores on Advanced Placement tests that earn credit at most colleges:
County: AP passing rate
1. San Francisco: 22.2%
2. Orange: 21.6%
3. Santa Clara: 19.7%
4. San Diego: 17.5%
5. Marin: 16.7%
6. San Mateo: 16.7%
7. Ventura: 15.0%
8. Los Angeles: 15.0%
9. El Dorado: 14.9%
10. Contra Costa:14.7%
Districts Compared
A comparison of Orange County SAT score averages shows Irvine Unified with the highest scores:
Irvine Unified: 1156
Brea-Olinda Unified: 1113
Saddleback Valley Unified: 1104
Laguna Beach Unified: 1092
Placentia-Yorba Linda: 1091
Tustin Unified: 1081
Capistrano Unified: 1080
Newport-Mesa Unified: 1077
Los Alamitos Unified: 1075
Fullerton Joint Union: 1072
Orange Unified: 1071
Huntington Beach Unified: 1064
Garden Grove Unified: 1012
Anaheim Union High: 1004
Santa Ana Unified: 867
California Counties
A comparison of SAT score averages in California’s 57 counties shows Orange County with the eighth-highest total.
1. El Dorado: 1090
2. Mendocino: 1086
3. Humboldt: 1084
4. Marin: 1083
5. Yolo: 1075
6. Santa Clara: 1072
7. San Luis Obispo: 1071
8. Orange: 1066
9. Nevada: 1064
10. Sonoma: 1060
11. Contra Costa: 1059
12. Napa: 1058
13. Santa Barbara: 1058
14. Mariposa: 1057
15. Ventura: 1056
16. Trinity: 1050
17. Amador: 1049
18. Calaveras: 1043
19. Shasta: 1043
20. Placer: 1039
21. Butte: 1038
22. Tuolumne: 1037
23. Plumas: 1033
24. San Mateo: 1027
25. Inyo: 1027
26. Santa Cruz: 1021
27. San Diego: 1016
28. Siskiyou: 1011
29. Alameda: 1011
30. Sacramento: 1010
31. Stanislaus: 1006
32. Solano: 1005
33. Mono: 1003
34. Del Norte: 992
35. Madera: 992
36. Lake: 990
37. Glenn: 985
38. Sutter: 981
39. San Joaquin: 980
40. Fresno: 976
41. San Francisco: 973
42. Tulare: 971
43. Yuba: 970
44. Tehama: 968
45. Sierra: 967
46. Kern: 966
47. Merced: 966
48. San Bernardino: 964
49. Los Angeles: 961
50. Monterey: 961
51. Modoc: 960
52. Lassen: 954
53. Riverside: 953
54. San Benito: 953
55. Kings: 926
56. Colusa: 913
57. Imperial: 885
N/A means rate was not calculated
Percentages are rounded off to the nearest tenth.
Sources: Calfironia Department of Education and individual school districts.
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