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How has Acalanes High changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,256
High
DISTRICT 1,080 · STATE 838
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ACALANES UNION HIGH·NCES 060165000032
Acalanes High
1200 Pleasant Hill Rd., Lafayette, CA 94549 · (925) 280-3970 · Contra Costa County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,256 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 77% of California public high schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public high schools
Student : Teacher
19.5:1
64 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 18.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
7%
92 students
DISTRICT 10% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 305 | 24% |
| Grade 10 | 311 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 295 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 345 | 27% |
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
82.5%
CA avg 49.1% . +0.5pp since 2014
Math
63.1%
CA avg 37.7% . -10.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 82 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 63 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2014, while math scores are down about 11 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 57.9% | 24.6% | 10.2% | 7.4% |
| Math | 41.8% | 21.3% | 22.3% | 14.6% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 82.5% | 63.1% |
| 2023-24 | 87.1% | 67.2% |
| 2022-23 | 83.1% | 68.7% |
| 2021-22 | 80.4% | 68.2% |
| 2020-21 | 84.8% | 72.9% |
| 2018-19 | 91.4% | 73.2% |
| 2017-18 | 82.5% | 70.2% |
| 2016-17 | 89.6% | 77.7% |
| 2015-16 | 93.0% | 73.0% |
| 2014-15 | 82.0% | 74.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
75.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
75.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 75% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Acalanes High
Acalanes High's state test result (75.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acalanes High this school | 1,256 | 7.3% | 75.0% |
| Campolindo High Moraga | 1,340 | 5.4% | 77.5% |
| San Ramon Valley High Danville | 2,036 | 5.7% | 64.5% |
| Redwood High Larkspur | 1,722 | 8.2% | 65.7% |
| Palos Verdes High Palos Verdes Estates | 1,484 | 8.4% | 70.8% |
| Tamalpais High Mill Valley | 1,470 | 11.8% | 64.3% |
Matched among California high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Acalanes High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Contra Costa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 75.0% | #52 of 1,052 | #4 of 28 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 63.1% | #69 of 1,056 ▼ 26 | #5 of 28 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 82.5% | #72 of 1,056 ▼ 33 | #6 of 28 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -1.5pp | #281 of 1,044 | #10 of 28 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,256 | #661 of 2,093 | #19 of 54 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.5:1 | #478 of 1,352 | #11 of 41 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.9% | #519 of 1,351 | #23 of 41 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 7.3% | #1,560 of 1,575 | #41 of 45 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.8% | #497 of 802 | #15 of 27 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,256
-47 (-4%) vs 2020
+22% since 1990-91, when it was 1,031
Student : Teacher
19.5:1
was 19.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,256 | 64.4 | 19.5:1 | 7% (92) |
| 2023-24 | 1,250 | 63.2 | 19.8:1 | 8% (103) |
| 2022-23 | 1,259 | 65.3 | 19.3:1 | 8% (97) |
| 2020-21 | 1,303 | 67 | 19.4:1 | 6% (76) |
| 2017-18 | 1,377 | 68 | 20.3:1 | 5% (70) |
| 2015-16 | 1,423 | 69 | 20.6:1 | 3% (45) |
| 2010-11 | 1,416 | N/A | N/A | 2% (34) |
| 2000-01 | 1,270 | 57 | 22.3:1 | 0% (0) |
| 1990-91 | 1,031 | 44 | 23.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Acalanes High.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (1,377 to 1,256); teachers down 5% (68 to 64.4).
About Acalanes High
Acalanes High, located in Lafayette, California, is a mid-sized high school. It teaches 1,256 students in grades 9 through 12. That is 50% larger than the average of about 838 students for high schools in California.
Acalanes Union High counts 5 schools and 5,401 students, including Acalanes High.
About 63% of the student body at Acalanes High is White. Other students are 12% Asian, 12% Hispanic, and 11% multiracial. By comparison, Contra Costa County residents are about 41% White. A diversity index of 56% means there is a 56% chance two randomly chosen students at Acalanes High are from different groups.
On staff are 64.4 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 19.5:1. The average for high schools in California is 18.2:1, so this school has more students per teacher. About 7% of students at Acalanes High are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Contra Costa County average 45%.
Among California public high schools, Acalanes High outscored 77%, which works out to an A- on the allk12 Grade.
Compared with California schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Acalanes High's results are within a point of predicted: 75.0% against 75.2%.
Contra Costa County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $127,229 a year, roughly 45% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Contra Costa County number 280, with about 167,423 students.
Springhill Elementary is about 0.3 miles from Acalanes High, the shortest distance to any other public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, Acalanes High ranks 5th on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is Suburb: Large: the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased 4%.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Acalanes High. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Contra Costa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,165,012
Census ACS
Median income
$127,229
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
280
167,423 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Acalanes Union High
- Las Lomas HighHigh · 1,577 students
- Campolindo HighHigh · 1,340 students
- Miramonte HighHigh · 1,167 students
- Acalanes Center for Independent StudyHigh · 61 students
Other schools in Lafayette
- M. H. Stanley MiddleMiddle · 1,117 students
- Burton Valley ElementaryElementary · 653 students
- Lafayette ElementaryElementary · 515 students
- Springhill ElementaryElementary · 479 students
- Happy Valley ElementaryElementary · 463 students
- Lafayette Early Intervention PreschoolElementary · 3 students
Nearby schools
- Springhill Elementary0.3 mi · 479
- M. H. Stanley Middle1.5 mi · 1,117
- Lafayette Elementary1.5 mi · 515
- Buena Vista Elementary1.6 mi · 495
- Tice Creek2.0 mi · 451
- Parkmead Elementary2.0 mi · 478
Frequently asked questions
About Acalanes HighHow large is Acalanes High?
Acalanes High enrolls approximately 1,256 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Acalanes High serve?
Acalanes High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Acalanes High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Acalanes High is approximately 19.5:1 (64 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Acalanes High?
Acalanes High reports a student body of 63% White, 12% Hispanic, 2% Black, 12% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Is Acalanes High public or private?
Acalanes High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Acalanes Union High.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.