Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Options for Youth-San Juan → Mesa Verde High → Encina High → San Juan High → Foothill High → Center High → El Camino Fundamental High → Futures High →At a glance
- 8 AP courses offered — Elite
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- Gifted & talented program
- AP rigor: 73rd percentile nationally
- 4-yr grad rate: 92% in 2019 (60th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Highlands High compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 73rd percentile nationally with 8 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, Mesa Verde High, Encina High and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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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
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 · 2020-21Source: 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?
60th percentile nationally
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
High-poverty school
Title I Schoolwide eligible
≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.
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 +2.4%/year, projecting from 2024's 778 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $21,914 per student in district revenue, the 96 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $2,103,744/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 | 3.2 | 677 | -12.8% |
| Mesa Verde High Citrus Heights |
Public | 3.4 | 894 | +2.3% |
| Encina High Sacramento |
Public | 7.1 | 766 | +6.5% |
| San Juan High Citrus Heights |
Public | 3.9 | 559 | -10.6% |
| Foothill High Sacramento |
Public | 0.8 | 1,417 | +19.8% |
| Center High Antelope |
Public | 2.8 | 1,312 | -2.5% |
| El Camino Fundamental High Sacramento |
Public | 5.4 | 1,226 | -1.0% |
| Futures High Sacramento |
Public · charter | 5.4 | 469 | +10.4% |
Related reading
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College admissions · August 21, 2026