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What do students at Northwood High actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,244
High
DISTRICT 1,662 · STATE 838
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IRVINE UNIFIED·NCES 068450008251
Northwood High
4515 Portola Pkwy., Irvine, CA 92620 · (949) 936-7200 · Orange County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL2,244 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 79% of California public high schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-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
25.9:1
86 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.9:1 · STATE 18.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
19%
421 students
DISTRICT 22% · 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 | 507 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 569 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 565 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 603 | 27% |
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
79.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -7.0pp since 2014
Math
72.0%
CA avg 37.7% . -6.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 79 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 7 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 6 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 49.3% | 29.7% | 12.6% | 8.4% |
| Math | 45.1% | 26.9% | 14.2% | 13.8% |
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 | 79.0% | 72.0% |
| 2023-24 | 71.7% | 66.4% |
| 2022-23 | 76.9% | 69.2% |
| 2021-22 | 87.3% | 73.4% |
| 2020-21 | 82.7% | 74.8% |
| 2018-19 | 82.0% | 78.4% |
| 2017-18 | 75.5% | 73.7% |
| 2016-17 | 88.8% | 82.0% |
| 2015-16 | 86.0% | 82.0% |
| 2014-15 | 86.0% | 78.0% |
% 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
72.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 72% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Northwood High
Northwood High's state test result (72.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood High this school | 2,244 | 18.8% | 72.3% |
| Portola High Irvine | 2,693 | 17.6% | 71.9% |
| Dublin High Dublin | 2,771 | 16.9% | 73.9% |
| Irvine High Irvine | 1,964 | 22.6% | 66.8% |
| Mountain House High Mountain House | 2,428 | 10.8% | 70.4% |
| Arcadia High Arcadia | 2,939 | 25.5% | 64.5% |
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 Northwood High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 72.3% | #71 of 1,052 | #8 of 68 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.0% | #38 of 1,056 ▲ 10 | #4 of 69 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.0% | #113 of 1,056 ▲ 93 | #12 of 69 ▲ 13 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -4.9pp | #134 of 1,044 | #11 of 68 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,244 | #176 of 2,093 | #21 of 105 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 25.9:1 | #1,267 of 1,352 | #77 of 85 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.9% | #517 of 1,351 | #39 of 85 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 18.8% | #1,494 of 1,575 | #90 of 95 |
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.
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
2,244
-1 (0%) vs 2017
+95% since 2000-01, when it was 1,148
Student : Teacher
25.9:1
was 26.3:1
% White
17%
was 28%
% Hispanic
8%
was 8%
% Black
2%
was 2%
% Asian
63%
was 58%
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 | 2,244 | 86.5 | 25.9:1 | 19% (421) |
| 2023-24 | 2,310 | 86.5 | 26.7:1 | 19% (450) |
| 2022-23 | 2,251 | 81.6 | 27.6:1 | 19% (419) |
| 2017-18 | 2,245 | 85.4 | 26.3:1 | 15% (344) |
| 2010-11 | 1,947 | N/A | N/A | 5% (88) |
| 2000-01 | 1,148 | 45 | 25.5:1 | 1% (14) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwood High.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (2,245 to 2,244); teachers up 1% (85.4 to 86.5).
About Northwood High
Northwood High is a high school located in Irvine, California, in Orange County. It educates 2,244 students in grades 9 through 12. The typical figure for high schools in California is about 838 students.
Across its 44 schools, Irvine Unified enrolls 37,948 students. Northwood High is one of those schools.
At 63%, Asian students outnumber all other groups at Northwood High combined. After that, the student body is 17% White, 9% multiracial, and 8% Hispanic. Among all residents of Orange County, the Asian share is about 22%. Northwood High has a diversity index of 56%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The count of teachers at Northwood High is 86.5 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 25.9:1. The average ratio among high schools in California is 18.2:1, lower than at this school. Around 19% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Across public schools in Orange County, the average is 55%.
Northwood High is graded A- by allk12, scoring above 79% of California public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
On BeatsExpectations, Northwood High is 3.8 points above its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of California schools.
Orange County has these Census figures: median household income is about $116,289, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 44%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Northwood High is among the 649 public schools in Orange County.
Canyon View Elementary is located about 0.6 miles from Northwood High. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Nearby schools with test data average 78.0% proficiency; Northwood High posts 72.3%.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Large. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school's size has been steady, with 2,245 students in 2017-18 and 2,244 in 2024-25. In 2017-18, 28% of students were White; in 2024-25, 17% were.
Discussion on this page can cover sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,165,820
Census ACS
Median income
$116,289
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
649
430,458 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Irvine Unified
- Portola HighHigh · 2,693 students
- University HighHigh · 2,307 students
- Woodbridge HighHigh · 2,232 students
- Irvine HighHigh · 1,964 students
- Sierra Vista MiddleMiddle · 1,282 students
- Woodbury ElementaryElementary · 1,095 students
Other schools in Irvine
- Arnold O. Beckman HighHigh · 2,776 students
- Portola HighHigh · 2,693 students
- University HighHigh · 2,307 students
- Woodbridge HighHigh · 2,232 students
- Irvine HighHigh · 1,964 students
- Orchard HillsElementary · 1,373 students
Other Northwood High schools
7 other US public schools in 7 states are named Northwood High. Northwood High is the largest of the 8.
- Northwood HighRockville, MD · 1,654 students
- Northwood High SchoolShreveport, LA · 989 students
- Northwood HighPittsboro, NC · 634 students
- Northwood High SchoolLena, LA · 598 students
- Northwood High SchoolNorthwood, OH · 357 students
Nearby schools
- Canyon View Elementary0.6 mi · 764
- Orchard Hills0.6 mi · 1,373
- Santiago Hills Elementary1.2 mi · 548
- Hicks Canyon Elementary1.3 mi · 830
- Eastwood Elementary1.3 mi · 647
- Myford Elementary1.5 mi · 542
Frequently asked questions
About Northwood HighHow large is Northwood High?
Northwood High enrolls approximately 2,244 students in grades 09-12.
Is Northwood High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Northwood High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Northwood High have?
Northwood High employs 86 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 25.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Northwood High?
At Northwood High, the student body is approximately 17% White, 8% Hispanic, 2% Black, 63% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Northwood High public or private?
Northwood High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Irvine Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.