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How has Alisal High changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,742
High
DISTRICT 1,419 · STATE 838
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SALINAS UNION HIGH·NCES 063398005332
Alisal High
777 Williams Rd., Salinas, CA 93905 · (831) 796-7600 · Monterey County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,742 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 61% of California public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C+Three-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
22.9:1
120 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.4:1 · STATE 18.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
95%
2,611 students
DISTRICT 90% · 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 | 714 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 687 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 679 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 662 | 24% |
Student demographics
4%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 16% · 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
56.5%
CA avg 49.1% . +19.5pp since 2014
Math
20.2%
CA avg 37.7% . +4.2pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 20 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 4 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 23.1% | 33.5% | 21.6% | 21.8% |
| Math | 5.3% | 14.9% | 24.3% | 55.5% |
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 | 56.5% | 20.2% |
| 2023-24 | 53.1% | 19.3% |
| 2022-23 | 49.9% | 18.7% |
| 2021-22 | 52.9% | 21.3% |
| 2018-19 | 42.6% | 19.7% |
| 2017-18 | 45.5% | 19.0% |
| 2016-17 | 52.3% | 20.9% |
| 2015-16 | 52.0% | 26.0% |
| 2014-15 | 37.0% | 16.0% |
% 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
37.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.8%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+13.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 24% 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 Alisal High
Alisal High's state test result (37.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alisal High this school | 2,742 | 95.2% | 37.3% |
| Arvin High Arvin | 2,653 | 96.5% | 28.9% |
| Anaheim High Anaheim | 2,667 | 94.2% | 25.5% |
| James A. Garfield Senior High Los Angeles | 2,237 | 92.8% | 44.8% |
| Fontana High Fontana | 2,534 | 95.3% | 45.4% |
| Santa Ana High Santa Ana | 2,505 | 90.6% | 27.5% |
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 Alisal High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Monterey County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.3% | #602 of 1,052 | #7 of 15 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.2% | #669 of 1,056 ▼ 34 | #6 of 15 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.5% | #542 of 1,056 ▲ 49 | #7 of 15 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.3pp | #568 of 1,044 | #8 of 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,742 | #55 of 2,093 | #1 of 31 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.9:1 | #985 of 1,352 | #16 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 4.0% | #1,317 of 1,351 | #16 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 95.2% | #124 of 1,575 | #2 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.4% | #692 of 802 | #9 of 9 |
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
2,742
-300 (-10%) vs 2020
+47% since 1990-91, when it was 1,871
Student : Teacher
22.9:1
was 26.0:1
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 | 2,742 | 119.5 | 22.9:1 | 95% (2,611) |
| 2023-24 | 2,791 | 123 | 22.7:1 | 97% (2,710) |
| 2022-23 | 2,852 | 121.1 | 23.6:1 | 94% (2,679) |
| 2020-21 | 3,042 | 117 | 26.0:1 | 94% (2,845) |
| 2017-18 | 2,838 | 115.2 | 24.6:1 | 81% (2,309) |
| 2015-16 | 2,585 | 97 | 26.6:1 | 85% (2,191) |
| 2010-11 | 2,478 | N/A | N/A | 75% (1,869) |
| 2000-01 | 1,910 | 77 | 24.8:1 | 70% (1,346) |
| 1990-91 | 1,871 | 64 | 29.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Alisal High.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (2,838 to 2,742); teachers up 4% (115.2 to 119.5).
About Alisal High
Alisal High is a high-enrollment high school with an address in Salinas, California. Grades offered run from 9 through 12, with 2,742 students enrolled. The average among high schools in California is roughly 838 students; this school is 227% bigger than that.
Enrollment across the 12 schools in Salinas Union High totals 15,703 students.
Alisal High's enrollment is 98% Hispanic. The school's Hispanic share is 36 points above the 62% share among Monterey County residents. Pick two students at random and there is a 4% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school reports 119.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 22.9 students per teacher. The school has more students per teacher than the 18.2:1 average for high schools in California. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 95%. Among public schools in Monterey County, the average eligibility rate is 76%.
Measured against California public high schools, Alisal High receives a B. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
After adjusting for student poverty, Alisal High lands between the top and bottom 10% of California schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 37.3%; the prediction is 23.8%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Monterey County show that the median household income is $97,230, about 28% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 10%. Besides Alisal High, Monterey County has 152 other public schools.
The nearest public school is Cesar E. Chavez Elementary, at about 0.2 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools with test data average 25.9% proficiency; Alisal High posts 37.3%.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is City: Mid-size: inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment has fallen by 300 students since 2020-21, to 2,742. Students per teacher fell from 26.0 in 2020-21 to 22.9 in 2024-25.
Community posts for Alisal High can cover enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Monterey County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
437,613
Census ACS
Median income
$97,230
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
153
73,845 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Salinas Union High
- Salinas HighHigh · 2,380 students
- North Salinas HighHigh · 2,106 students
- Everett Alvarez HighHigh · 1,978 students
- Rancho San Juan HighHigh · 1,600 students
- Harden MiddleMiddle · 1,101 students
- La Paz MiddleMiddle · 1,099 students
Other schools in Salinas
- Salinas HighHigh · 2,380 students
- North Salinas HighHigh · 2,106 students
- Everett Alvarez HighHigh · 1,978 students
- Rancho San Juan HighHigh · 1,600 students
- Harden MiddleMiddle · 1,101 students
- La Paz MiddleMiddle · 1,099 students
Nearby schools
- Cesar E. Chavez Elementary0.2 mi · 628
- Alisal Community0.3 mi · 591
- Monte Bella Elementary0.4 mi · 812
- La Paz Middle0.4 mi · 1,099
- Dr. Oscar F. Loya Elementary0.5 mi · 573
- Frank Paul Elementary0.7 mi · 638
Frequently asked questions
About Alisal HighHow large is Alisal High?
Alisal High enrolls approximately 2,742 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Alisal High serve?
Alisal High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Alisal High have?
Alisal High employs 120 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 22.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Alisal High?
At Alisal High, the student body is approximately 0% White, 98% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Alisal High public or private?
Alisal High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Salinas Union High.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.