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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Palm Desert High administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,079
High
DISTRICT 1,225 · STATE 838
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DESERT SANDS UNIFIED·NCES 061111008819
Palm Desert High
74-910 Aztec Rd., Palm Desert, CA 92260 · (760) 862-4300 · Riverside County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,079 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 78% 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.
- A-Beats 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
26.0:1
80 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.5:1 · STATE 18.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
1,251 students
DISTRICT 79% · 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 | 564 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 520 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 527 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 468 | 23% |
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 39% · 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
69.3%
CA avg 49.1% . -9.7pp since 2014
Math
37.5%
CA avg 37.7% . -3.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 10 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 33.6% | 35.7% | 18.6% | 12.1% |
| Math | 12.6% | 24.9% | 26.4% | 36.1% |
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 | 69.3% | 37.5% |
| 2023-24 | 71.6% | 39.5% |
| 2022-23 | 70.3% | 33.8% |
| 2021-22 | 72.9% | 37.0% |
| 2020-21 | 67.5% | 41.9% |
| 2018-19 | 66.7% | 34.5% |
| 2017-18 | 76.4% | 33.8% |
| 2016-17 | 81.6% | 35.2% |
| 2015-16 | 86.0% | 47.0% |
| 2014-15 | 79.0% | 41.0% |
% 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
54.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 54% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 Palm Desert High
Palm Desert High's state test result (54.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Desert High this school | 2,079 | 60.2% | 54.5% |
| Lodi High Lodi | 1,952 | 60.9% | 36.2% |
| Santa Rosa High Santa Rosa | 1,553 | 58.3% | 37.3% |
| Ventura High Ventura | 1,939 | 60.4% | 40.9% |
| Murrieta Mesa High Murrieta | 2,066 | 59.7% | 55.1% |
| Fred C. Beyer High Modesto | 1,609 | 62.2% | 44.6% |
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 Palm Desert High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Riverside County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 54.5% | #257 of 1,052 | #11 of 60 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.5% | #306 of 1,056 ▼ 46 | #10 of 60 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.3% | #261 of 1,056 ▼ 53 | #12 of 60 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -1.6pp | #273 of 1,044 | #12 of 59 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,079 | #243 of 2,093 | #29 of 100 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 26.0:1 | #1,271 of 1,352 | #69 of 75 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.0% | #319 of 1,351 | #15 of 75 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.2% | #1,038 of 1,575 | #74 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +5.4% | #198 of 327 | #13 of 25 |
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
2,079
-50 (-2%) vs 2020
+22% since 1990-91, when it was 1,700
Student : Teacher
26.0:1
was 28.4:1
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 | 2,079 | 80 | 26.0:1 | 60% (1,251) |
| 2023-24 | 2,039 | 78.4 | 26.0:1 | 59% (1,212) |
| 2022-23 | 2,050 | 84.9 | 24.1:1 | 57% (1,174) |
| 2020-21 | 2,129 | 75 | 28.4:1 | 43% (913) |
| 2017-18 | 1,972 | 76 | 25.9:1 | 47% (926) |
| 2015-16 | 1,948 | 76 | 25.6:1 | 40% (784) |
| 2010-11 | 2,042 | N/A | N/A | 35% (714) |
| 2000-01 | 1,755 | 74 | 23.7:1 | 22% (390) |
| 1990-91 | 1,700 | 68 | 25.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palm Desert High.
Since 2017-18: students up 5% (1,972 to 2,079); teachers up 5% (76 to 80).
About Palm Desert High
Palm Desert High is a large high school that serves part of Palm Desert, California. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 2,079 students in grades 9 through 12. The average for high schools in California is about 838 students, so this school is 148% larger than average.
Besides Palm Desert High, Desert Sands Unified runs 33 other schools. The district enrolls 25,613 students.
At Palm Desert High, the largest share of students is Hispanic, at 48%. It is also 35% White, 8% Asian, and 5% multiracial. For comparison, Riverside County is about 51% Hispanic. Palm Desert High's diversity index is 63%, against a US figure of 70%.
Federal staffing data show 80 full-time-equivalent teachers at Palm Desert High and a ratio of 26.0:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 18.2:1 average for high schools in California. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 60% of enrollment. For comparison, public schools in Riverside County average 74%.
allk12 grades Palm Desert High an A-. The grade compares the school only with California public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
Test results at Palm Desert High are 10.2 points above what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (54.5% actual, 44.3% predicted).
Census estimates describe Riverside County this way: the median household income is $93,074, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26%, and about 8% of people live in poverty. Besides Palm Desert High, Riverside County has 542 other public schools.
Of nearby public schools, Palm Desert Charter Middle is the closest, at about 0.7 miles. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Palm Desert High. On proficiency, Palm Desert High is ahead of the 46.3% nearby average, ranking 4th of 8.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Small.
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 2,129 in 2020-21, 2,079 in 2024-25. The ratio of students to teachers went from 28.4:1 to 26.0:1 over the same years.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Riverside County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,478,600
Census ACS
Median income
$93,074
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
543
424,872 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Desert Sands Unified
- La Quinta HighHigh · 2,425 students
- Indio HighHigh · 1,962 students
- Shadow Hills HighHigh · 1,650 students
- Palm Desert Charter MiddleMiddle · 1,298 students
- John Glenn Middle School of International StudiesMiddle · 1,099 students
- Desert Ridge AcademyMiddle · 962 students
Other schools in Palm Desert
- Palm Desert Charter MiddleMiddle · 1,298 students
- Ronald Reagan ElementaryElementary · 808 students
- George Washington CharterElementary · 746 students
- Abraham Lincoln ElementaryElementary · 607 students
- James Earl Carter ElementaryElementary · 487 students
Nearby schools
- Palm Desert Charter Middle0.7 mi · 1,298
- Abraham Lincoln Elementary0.8 mi · 607
- James Earl Carter Elementary1.1 mi · 487
- George Washington Charter1.5 mi · 746
- Gerald R. Ford Elementary2.7 mi · 598
- Ronald Reagan Elementary3.0 mi · 808
Frequently asked questions
About Palm Desert HighHow large is Palm Desert High?
Palm Desert High enrolls approximately 2,079 students in grades 09-12.
Is Palm Desert High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Palm Desert High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Palm Desert High?
Approximately 26.0:1 students per teacher at Palm Desert High.
What is the student diversity at Palm Desert High?
Student demographics at Palm Desert High are roughly 35% White, 48% Hispanic, 2% Black, 8% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Palm Desert High public or private?
Palm Desert High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Desert Sands Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.