Cottonwood
El Dorado Hills · CA · Cottonwood District · Public charter · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Options for Youth-San Juan → San Juan High → Highlands High → Mesa Verde High → Sky Mountain Charter → Casa Roble Fundamental High → John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills → Buckeye Union Mandarin Immersion Charter →At a glance
- 7 AP courses offered — Elite
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 2 calculus classes · 2 physics · 4 chemistry
- AP rigor: 73rd percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 13% by test-taker volume
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
Keep this page current
Work at Cottonwood? If this page is missing your newest school profile, matriculation list, or college acceptances, send us the links. We read the document, copy the figures exactly as published, and cite it on this page.
Send us links
Links only, please. We can't take file uploads, and we never publish a number without the document it came from.
By sending this you agree that we may email you about your request. We write by email only, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
How Cottonwood compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 73rd percentile nationally with 7 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: Options for Youth-San Juan, San Juan High, Highlands High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
Get alerts when Cottonwood'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
73rd percentile nationally
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 · 2020-21Bottom 13% by test-taker volume
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.
Federal Title I context
Title I Schoolwide eligible
≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program
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
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
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +13.5%/year, projecting from 2024's 3,563 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $11,066 per student in district revenue, the 3,140 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $34,747,240/year in additional funding.
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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Options for Youth-San Juan Carmichael |
Public · charter | 13.9 | 677 | -12.8% |
| San Juan High Citrus Heights |
Public | 12.1 | 559 | -10.6% |
| Highlands High North Highlands |
Public | 16.0 | 778 | +7.6% |
| Mesa Verde High Citrus Heights |
Public | 13.2 | 894 | +2.3% |
| Sky Mountain Charter Placerville |
Public · charter | 14.3 | 583 | +17.5% |
| Casa Roble Fundamental High Orangevale |
Public | 9.1 | 1,150 | +1.1% |
| John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills El Dorado Hills |
Public · charter | 1.2 | 291 | +118.8% |
| Buckeye Union Mandarin Immersion Charter El Dorado Hills |
Public · charter | 2.5 | — | — |
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantCottonwood is a public high school in El Dorado Hills, CA, enrolling 3,563 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Enrollment is up 59% from 2021 to 2024.
It offers 7 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 73% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
9 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 13% of U.S. high schools.
It has about 1,782 students per school counselor.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
How many AP courses does Cottonwood offer? Cottonwood offers 7 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 73% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
How many students attend Cottonwood? Cottonwood is a public high school in El Dorado Hills, CA, enrolling 3,563 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
What does AI tell parents about Cottonwood?
When a parent asks an AI assistant about Cottonwood, the answer is built from a handful of sources, and Reach is often one of them. We will send your school a short report on what AI says about Cottonwood and where it comes from. The first report is free.
Request the free report
Related reading
California · October 2, 2026
California · October 2, 2026
AP courses · October 2026