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How has Pasadena High changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,303
High
DISTRICT 1,073 · STATE 838
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PASADENA UNIFIED·NCES 062994004684
Pasadena High
2925 East Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107 · (626) 396-5880 · Los Angeles County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,303 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
71 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.1:1 · STATE 18.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
68%
881 students
DISTRICT 62% · 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 | 328 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 263 | 20% |
| Grade 11 | 373 | 29% |
| Grade 12 | 339 | 26% |
Student demographics
65%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
56.4%
CA avg 49.1% . +4.4pp since 2014
Math
25.6%
CA avg 37.7% . -4.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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 4 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 4 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 26.8% | 29.6% | 23.1% | 20.6% |
| Math | 10.2% | 15.4% | 24.7% | 49.7% |
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 | 56.4% | 25.6% |
| 2023-24 | 58.4% | 24.6% |
| 2022-23 | 65.5% | 31.2% |
| 2021-22 | 61.4% | 28.8% |
| 2020-21 | 67.4% | 40.4% |
| 2018-19 | 53.3% | 26.2% |
| 2017-18 | 43.4% | 26.1% |
| 2016-17 | 63.1% | 30.1% |
| 2015-16 | 57.0% | 33.0% |
| 2014-15 | 52.0% | 30.0% |
% 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
41.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Pasadena High
Pasadena High's state test result (41.3% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasadena High this school | 1,303 | 67.6% | 41.3% |
| Venice Senior High Los Angeles | 2,293 | 64.7% | 48.9% |
| Altus Schools Charter School of San Diego San Diego | 1,375 | 72.9% | N/A |
| Bullard High Fresno | 2,485 | 64.9% | 34.7% |
| Vaca Pena Middle Vacaville | 675 | 65.0% | 23.9% |
| Helix High La Mesa | 2,554 | 65.5% | N/A |
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 Pasadena High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.3% | #498 of 1,052 | #110 of 228 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.6% | #519 of 1,056 ▼ 37 | #125 of 229 ▼ 21 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.4% | #546 of 1,056 ▼ 81 | #122 of 229 ▼ 20 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -4.1pp | #161 of 1,044 | #12 of 229 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,303 | #638 of 2,093 | #132 of 486 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.2:1 | #313 of 1,352 | #114 of 358 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.2% | #247 of 1,351 | #30 of 359 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 67.6% | #910 of 1,575 | #300 of 396 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -27.9% | #76 of 802 | #41 of 227 |
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
1,303
-539 (-29%) vs 2020
-42% since 1990-91, when it was 2,250
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
was 21.4:1
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 | 1,303 | 71.4 | 18.2:1 | 68% (881) |
| 2023-24 | 1,355 | 74 | 18.3:1 | 72% (973) |
| 2022-23 | 1,609 | 74.7 | 21.5:1 | 74% (1,186) |
| 2020-21 | 1,842 | 86 | 21.4:1 | 62% (1,147) |
| 2017-18 | 1,807 | 76.4 | 23.6:1 | 60% (1,077) |
| 2015-16 | 1,871 | 85 | 22.0:1 | 60% (1,130) |
| 2010-11 | 2,070 | N/A | N/A | 60% (1,242) |
| 2000-01 | 2,280 | 92 | 24.8:1 | 43% (985) |
| 1990-91 | 2,250 | 91 | 24.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Pasadena High.
Since 2017-18: students down 28% (1,807 to 1,303); teachers down 7% (76.4 to 71.4).
About Pasadena High
Pasadena High is a high school in Pasadena, California, and it is part of Pasadena Unified. The school enrolls 1,303 students, from grades 9 through 12. Average enrollment for high schools in California is about 838, so this school runs 55% bigger than that.
Pasadena High belongs to Pasadena Unified, a district of 23 schools and 13,639 students.
At 53%, Hispanic students outnumber all other groups at Pasadena High combined. The school is also 19% White, 12% Black, 10% Asian, and 5% multiracial. Pasadena High has a diversity index of 65%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The ratio of students to teachers is 18.2:1, with 71.4 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. Across high schools in California, the average ratio is about 18.2:1. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 68%. That is close to the 70% average for public schools in Los Angeles County.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Pasadena High falls in the middle 80% of California schools: 41.3% actual against 39.9% predicted.
Within Los Angeles County, median household income is about $90,112, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. The public schools of Los Angeles County number 2,244 and enroll about 1,265,907.
The closest public school to Pasadena High is Norma Coombs Elementary, about 0.4 miles away. Within five miles of Pasadena High, there are at least 8 other public schools. In a group of 5 nearby schools with scores, Pasadena High ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
The school's locale code, City: Mid-size, means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Pasadena High went from 1,842 students to 1,303. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 21.4:1 to 18.2:1.
Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Los Angeles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,808,667
Census ACS
Median income
$90,112
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
2,244
1,265,907 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pasadena Unified
- Marshall FundamentalHigh · 1,689 students
- John Muir HighHigh · 1,206 students
- Blair HighHigh · 1,053 students
- Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilingual Magnet ElementaryElementary · 658 students
- Sierra Madre ElementaryElementary · 652 students
- Sierra Madre MiddleMiddle · 597 students
Other schools in Pasadena
- Options For Youth - Duarte IncHigh · 3,369 students
- Marshall FundamentalHigh · 1,689 students
- John Muir HighHigh · 1,206 students
- Blair HighHigh · 1,053 students
- Longfellow (Henry W.) ElementaryElementary · 546 students
- McKinleyElementary · 538 students
Other Pasadena High schools
One other US public school is named Pasadena High. Pasadena High is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Pasadena High SchoolPASADENA, TX · 2,217 students
Nearby schools
- Norma Coombs Elementary0.4 mi · 370
- Field (Eugene) Elementary0.9 mi · 449
- Webster Elementary1.0 mi · 277
- Learning Works1.0 mi · 212
- Marshall Fundamental1.2 mi · 1,689
- Options For Youth - Duarte Inc1.2 mi · 3,369
Frequently asked questions
About Pasadena HighWhat is the total enrollment at Pasadena High?
Pasadena High enrolls approximately 1,303 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Pasadena High serve?
Pasadena High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Pasadena High have?
Pasadena High employs 71 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.2:1.
How diverse is Pasadena High?
Pasadena High reports a student body of 19% White, 53% Hispanic, 12% Black, 10% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Pasadena High?
Pasadena High is overseen by Pasadena Unified in Los Angeles County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.