Southwest High

El Centro · CA · Central Union High · Public


📚AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally 📖12 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 12 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 8 physics · 18 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 22% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 90% (Bottom 49% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

You've seen Southwest High. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price for every college on their list. Check odds →
💡

How Southwest High compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 14% nationally with 12 AP courses.
  • LocallyCA trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−4 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Central Union High, Brawley Union High, Imperial Valley ROP and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

📬

Get alerts when Southwest High's numbers change

New admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

86th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
12
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
305
≈17 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
13
1 calculus · 12 advanced
Lab science classes
26
8 physics · 18 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 22% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
18
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
1.0
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 49% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
90%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
519
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
10.7%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
8.0%
Around the national average. Worth watching.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

72.1%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
308:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
6.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
92
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 464 in 2021 to 454 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-2.2%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.1%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,846 students:

2025
1,825
2027
1,783
2029
1,743

≈ 103 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $19,944 per student in district revenue, the 103 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $2,054,232/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Central Union High
El Centro
Public 1.3 2,006 +4.1%
Brawley Union High
Brawley
Public 14.5 1,863 +1.0%
Imperial Valley ROP
El Centro
Public 1.6
Desert Mirage High
Thermal
Public 64.4 1,875 -10.8%
San Ysidro High
San Diego
Public 84.8 1,941 -19.4%
Bonita Vista Senior High
Chula Vista
Public 82.9 1,960 -12.3%
Indio High
Indio
Public 75.1 1,962 -2.7%
Holtville High
Holtville
Public 11.6 516 -1.1%

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Southwest High?

Check any college's odds in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Match / Likely with real admit odds and your real net price, for every college on their list.

Check your child's odds →
🎯 What are your child's odds? →