El Capitan High
Lakeside · CA · Grossmont Union High · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Ramona High → Mira Mesa High → Bonita Vista Senior High → Hilltop Senior High → Chula Vista Senior High → Canyon Crest Academy → Sweetwater High → San Ysidro High →📋 At a glance
- 📚 18 AP courses offered — Elite
- ✅ Gifted & talented program
- 🔢 1 calculus classes · 9 physics · 8 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: 80th percentile nationally
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 41% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 84% (Bottom 33% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How El Capitan High compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor in the top 20% nationally with 18 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: Ramona High, Mira Mesa High, Bonita Vista Senior High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
Follow El Capitan High
Get an email when El Capitan High's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
80th 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 41% 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.
🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
Bottom 33% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
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
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
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 +0.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,810 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $21,410 per student in district revenue, the 4 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $85,640/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramona High Ramona |
Public | 11.3 | 1,404 | -9.1% |
| Mira Mesa High San Diego |
Public | 13.4 | 2,187 | -4.5% |
| Bonita Vista Senior High Chula Vista |
Public | 16.0 | 1,960 | -12.3% |
| Hilltop Senior High Chula Vista |
Public | 18.0 | 1,771 | -7.1% |
| Chula Vista Senior High Chula Vista |
Public | 19.4 | 1,864 | -16.3% |
| Canyon Crest Academy San Diego |
Public | 17.0 | 2,147 | -8.5% |
| Sweetwater High National City |
Public | 17.7 | 2,290 | -18.3% |
| San Ysidro High San Diego |
Public | 21.7 | 1,941 | -19.4% |