How this list was built
Every California public school that reported total enrollment in both the NCES SY 2017-18 and SY 2024-25 vintages was scored on percent change in enrollment. Schools needed at least 100 students in 2017-18 to qualify, and must have been open in both school years. Schools that closed entirely are tracked in the separate school closures report. Virtual academies, cyber charters, and online schools are excluded so the list reflects neighborhood schools that families have moved away from rather than program-design changes.
Enrollment loss is not a verdict on a school. Schools shrink because catchment populations shrink, because new schools open nearby, because a magnet program elsewhere pulls transfers, because districts redraw boundaries, or because the building physically aged out. Use this list as a starting point for understanding which California schools are operating with substantially fewer students than they were seven years ago.
Source data
NCES Common Core of Data, EDGE_ADMINDATA_PUBLICSCH MapServer, vintages 2017-18 and 2024-25. Refreshed yearly when NCES publishes a new admin-data release. School names, slugs, and current district affiliation come from the 2024-25 snapshot.