Death Valley High Academy

Death Valley High Academy, an one-room-style four-year high school in Shoshone, California, operated by Death Valley Unified, enrolls 4 students, covering grades 7 through 12. That puts it 100% smaller than the typical public school in California, which averages around 838 students.

Death Valley Unified runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 21 students. Death Valley High Academy is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Death Valley High Academy lists that the most-represented group is Hispanic (50%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder consists of 25% White, 25% multiracial. By comparison, Inyo County as a whole is about 24% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Death Valley High Academy has 1 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 2.9:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 18.2:1 average.

Across the wider county, census data for Inyo County shows the typical household earns roughly $73,991 per year, roughly 32% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Inyo County's 23 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,539 students), Death Valley High Academy is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Shoshone Elementary, around 0.0 miles off.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 67%: 12 students in 2018 compared to 4 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 50% to 25%.

On this page, the feed for Death Valley High Academy typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.