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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Saddleback High?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,451
High
DISTRICT 1,256 · STATE 838
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTA ANA UNIFIED·NCES 063531006004
Saddleback High
2801 South Flower, Santa Ana, CA 92707 · (714) 513-2900 · Orange County
GRADES 07–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,451 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 38% of California public high schools
- CTest 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.
- 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
18.5:1
78 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.3:1 · STATE 18.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
1,364 students
DISTRICT 91% · 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 7 | 63 | 4% |
| Grade 8 | 49 | 3% |
| Grade 9 | 315 | 22% |
| Grade 10 | 326 | 22% |
| Grade 11 | 361 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 337 | 23% |
Student demographics
8%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 8% · 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
School pathway
Based on grade levels within Santa Ana Unified. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
33.1%
CA avg 49.1% . +6.1pp since 2014
Math
16.5%
CA avg 37.7% . +6.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 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 6 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 7 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 8.3% | 24.8% | 35.5% | 31.4% |
| Math | 5.9% | 10.6% | 27.4% | 56.1% |
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 | 33.1% | 16.5% |
| 2023-24 | 34.5% | 17.6% |
| 2022-23 | 36.3% | 15.1% |
| 2021-22 | 42.5% | 19.3% |
| 2020-21 | 26.8% | 18.1% |
| 2018-19 | 31.3% | 22.0% |
| 2017-18 | 35.3% | 21.7% |
| 2016-17 | 38.1% | 15.6% |
| 2015-16 | 36.0% | 21.0% |
| 2014-15 | 27.0% | 10.0% |
% 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
32.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
24.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% 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 Saddleback High
Saddleback High's state test result (32.0% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saddleback High this school | 1,451 | 94.0% | 32.0% |
| Huntington Park Senior High Huntington Park | 1,479 | 95.1% | 31.1% |
| San Fernando Senior High San Fernando | 1,608 | 93.2% | 29.7% |
| South Gate Senior High South Gate | 1,681 | 93.8% | 35.6% |
| Woodrow Wilson Senior High Los Angeles | 1,260 | 94.0% | 41.6% |
| Theodore Roosevelt Senior High Los Angeles | 1,678 | 96.3% | 37.0% |
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 Saddleback High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.0% | #740 of 1,052 | #58 of 68 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 16.5% | #790 of 1,056 ▼ 105 | #61 of 69 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.1% | #975 of 1,056 ▼ 27 | #68 of 69 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -6.1pp | #95 of 1,044 | #8 of 68 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,451 | #588 of 2,093 | #59 of 105 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.5:1 | #347 of 1,352 | #13 of 85 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 8.1% | #1,259 of 1,351 | #78 of 85 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 94.0% | #162 of 1,575 | #5 of 95 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.8% | #429 of 802 | #44 of 71 |
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
1,451
-124 (-8%) vs 2020
-49% since 1990-91, when it was 2,828
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
was 21.9:1
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 | 1,451 | 78.3 | 18.5:1 | 94% (1,364) |
| 2023-24 | 1,499 | 75.2 | 19.9:1 | 76% (1,134) |
| 2022-23 | 1,597 | 74.4 | 21.5:1 | 70% (1,114) |
| 2020-21 | 1,575 | 72 | 21.9:1 | 86% (1,348) |
| 2017-18 | 1,626 | 76.3 | 21.3:1 | 80% (1,297) |
| 2015-16 | 1,627 | 75 | 21.7:1 | 94% (1,530) |
| 2010-11 | 2,080 | N/A | N/A | 74% (1,545) |
| 2000-01 | 2,997 | 120 | 25.0:1 | 59% (1,769) |
| 1990-91 | 2,828 | 108 | 26.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Saddleback High.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (1,626 to 1,451); teachers up 3% (76.3 to 78.3).
About Saddleback High
Santa Ana, California, is home to Saddleback High, a large high school. The school had 1,451 students in grades 7 through 12 in 2024-25. The average among high schools in California is roughly 838 students; this school is 73% larger than that.
Saddleback High is one of 51 schools in Santa Ana Unified, which enrolls 35,993 students in total.
Saddleback High's enrollment is 96% Hispanic. The school is also 2% Asian. That is higher than the 34% Hispanic share among all Orange County residents. The school's diversity index is 8%, meaning two students picked at random have an 8% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.5:1 at Saddleback High, with 78.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. For comparison, high schools in California average 18.2:1. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 94%. The average for public schools in Orange County is 55%.
allk12 grades Saddleback High a C+. The grade compares the school only with California public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
A school with Saddleback High's lunch-eligibility share in California is predicted to score 24.5%. Saddleback High scores 32.0%, 7.5 points above that line.
In the county around the school, Orange County, the median household income is $116,289, roughly 44% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 649 public schools in Orange County, enrolling about 430,458 students in all.
The closest public school to Saddleback High is Douglas MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate, about 0.3 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 8 nearby schools with scores, Saddleback High ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Saddleback High as City: Large, meaning inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Federal data show an 8% enrollment decrease, from 1,575 in 2020-21 to 1,451 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 21.9:1 to 18.5:1.
If you have questions about school safety, transportation, and start times at Saddleback High, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 Santa Ana Unified
- Santa Ana HighHigh · 2,505 students
- Segerstrom HighHigh · 2,376 students
- Valley HighHigh · 1,908 students
- Hector G. GodinezHigh · 1,687 students
- Century HighHigh · 1,519 students
- Gonzalo Felicitas Mendez Fundamental IntermediateMiddle · 1,234 students
Other schools in Santa Ana
- Santa Ana HighHigh · 2,505 students
- Segerstrom HighHigh · 2,376 students
- OCSAHigh · 2,346 students
- Foothill HighHigh · 2,126 students
- Valley HighHigh · 1,908 students
- Hector G. GodinezHigh · 1,687 students
Nearby schools
- Douglas MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate0.3 mi · 1,005
- Washington Elementary0.7 mi · 529
- Jefferson Elementary0.7 mi · 616
- Manuel Esqueda Elementary0.8 mi · 811
- Taft Elementary0.8 mi · 408
- Monroe Elementary1.0 mi · 217
Frequently asked questions
About Saddleback HighHow large is Saddleback High?
Saddleback High enrolls approximately 1,451 students in grades 07-12.
Is Saddleback High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Saddleback High is a high school covering grades 07-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Saddleback High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Saddleback High is approximately 18.5:1 (78 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Saddleback High?
Student demographics at Saddleback High are roughly 1% White, 96% Hispanic, 0% Black, 2% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Saddleback High in?
Saddleback High is part of Santa Ana Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.