LA Canada High School

La Canada · Los Angeles County · La Canada Unified · Public

Public Los Angeles County 🏛 La Canada Unified → ~355 seniors CDS 1964659…
📄 Shareable scorecard →

Top 10% UC Reach in California Top 10% ELA & Math · SBAC (CA) 📚AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally 📖18 AP courses 🎓98% 4-yr grad rate 🎓Top 10% UC Reach in CA +2 more

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 18 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 5 calculus classes · 12 physics · 11 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 78th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 98% (Top 2.3% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

🎓 Where grads go

59.4% UC Reach — top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors in the Class of 2025. Counts each campus admit, so multi-admits count more than once.

UC admits by campus · Class of 2025

UCB
21 admitted
7 enrolled
UCLA
22 admitted
4 enrolled
UCSD
40 admitted
8 enrolled
UCSB
61 admitted
9 enrolled
UCI
23 admitted
4 enrolled
UCD
44 admitted
5 enrolled

Source: University of California Office of the President, Admissions by Source School. Full campus-by-campus breakdown below.

💡

How LA Canada High School compares for families

Top-tier college outcomes for California families.

  • Statewide59.4% UC Reach41.3 points above the California median of 18.1%. Ahead of 94% of California high schools.
  • Locally📘 Top 5% in California on ELA proficiency — plus 6 more top-ranks.
  • vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (59.4% UC Reach vs 30.6% median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.

For Parents

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🎓 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
18
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
663
≈50 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
12
5 calculus · 7 advanced
Lab science classes
23
12 physics · 11 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ 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

78th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
225
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
16.8
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?

Top 2.3% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
98%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
338
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.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Lower-need school

Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)

4.7%
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)

<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.

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.

SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2025

Share of grade-11 students meeting or exceeding the California standard on Smarter Balanced ELA and Math. This is the academic-readiness signal that pairs with UC Reach (post-grad outcomes), stability (retention), and absenteeism (engagement). Note: statewide median Math is only ~20% — a school at 20% isn't an outlier; one at 45%+ genuinely is.

ELA — met or exceeded
n = 327
93.6%
incl. 70.3% exceeded
★ Top 10% CA
+35.6 pts above Los Angeles County median (58.0%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 327
80.7%
incl. 58.4% exceeded
★ Top 10% CA
+55.7 pts above Los Angeles County median (25.0%) · CA median 21.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced research files. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥30 tested students.

Student composition — 2025-26

HS grades 9–12 racial/ethnic composition and program subgroups, from CDE Census Day Enrollment. Two-year shift shown when ≥1 pt — surfaces how the community served has changed since 2023-24.

Race / ethnicity

White 44%
Asian 28% -1.1
Hispanic / Latino 14%
Two or more 11%
Filipino 2%

Program subgroups

Socioeconomically disadv. 7%
Students w/ disabilities 6%

Source: California Department of Education, Census Day Enrollment 2025-26 (HS grades 9–12). Δ shown when shift is ≥1 pt since 2023-24. Categories below 0.5% omitted.

Chronic absenteeism — 2024-25

Share of students missing 10% or more of expected attendance — the leading indicator that often precedes the demand decline shown above. Families disengaging tend to raise absenteeism first, then formally leave. Basis: grades 9–12.

Chronic absent
6.6%
89 of 1,345 students

Low and stable absenteeism — students are engaged and showing up. The leading indicator is healthy.

Los Angeles County median
25.2% · school is better than 97% of 381 HS
Statewide median
22.9%
Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

Source: California Department of Education, Chronic Absenteeism 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 eligible students. CDE didn't publish a usable 2019-20 file (COVID).

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
2,079 (2018)2,007 (2026)
-3.5%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
362 (2018)338 (2026)
-6.6%

If this trend holds (-0.6%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~1,996 -11 $0
3 yr (2029) ~1,974 -33 $0
5 yr (2031) ~1,952 -55 $0

Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423/ADA). Edit the figure to match your school.

LA Canada High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · La Canada · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, LA Canada High School sits near the top of its similar-school group (ranked #2 of 11): 59% vs. a peer median of 31%.
  • Its UC Reach has risen 2 points since 2018.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 7% (362→338 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -12%.
  • At its recent rate (-0.4%/yr), enrollment projects to ~1981 by 2029 — about 26 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

2007 students (2026)
~1981 projected (2029)
at -0.4%/yr

That's about 26 fewer students. At per-student funding of $ per student, that's roughly $0 in annual state funding at risk.

Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423 per ADA) — adjust to your district's actual per-pupil figure. Projection extrapolates the recent annual rate — not a forecast of intent.

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
LA Canada High School Public 2007 59.4% -7%
Peer-group median 30.6% -12%
Glendale High School Public 2051 9.7% -16%
Eagle Rock High School Public 2070 35.2% -22%
Alhambra High School Public 2042 17.7% -11%
John Marshall High School Public 1859 28.0% -14%
Crescenta Valley High School Public 2630 48.5% -10%
Temple City High School Public 1803 59.7% -15%
Herbert Hoover High Public 1584 13.9% -3%
Mark Keppel High School Public 2181 34.2% -3%
San Gabriel High School Public 1726 33.1% -16%
John Muir High School Public 1282 17.5% +50%

UC Reach = top-6 UC admits ÷ senior class (can exceed 100% when students are admitted to multiple campuses). Enrollment trend = first-to-latest grade-12 change on file. Similar schools matched on proximity, size, type. Methodology →

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Los Angeles County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Healthy
Holding share of a shrinking market.

LA Canada High School's enrollment is tracking Los Angeles County's baseline (-6.6% vs. -8.2%), and 97.7% stability is elite. The demographic tide is the headwind; you're holding your share.

-6.6%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-8.2%  Los Angeles County baseline
+1.6pp  gap vs. county
97.7%  retention (county median 87.3%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
97.7%
1,321 of 1,352 students

31 of 1,352 students who enrolled at LA Canada High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (2.3% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Los Angeles County median
87.3% · school is in the 98th percentile of 387 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 98th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

White (878) 97.8%
Asian (583) 97.9%
Hispanic / Latino (271) 97.4%
Two or more races (217) 97.7%
Students w/ disabilities (154) 94.2%
Socio. disadvantaged (124) 94.4%

Nearest peer high schools

Glendale High School 89.2% Eagle Rock High School 93.5% Alhambra High School 92.5% John Marshall High School 87.8% Crescenta Valley High School 95.7%

Source: California Department of Education, Stability Rate 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 cumulative enrollees so by-design-high-churn continuation schools don't dominate the bottom of the distribution. Cumulative enrollment counts every student on the rolls during the year, so it can exceed peak-day enrollment.

District financial profile — La Canada Unified (FY2020)

From 4 years of NCES F-33 filings (the federally-mandated district finance survey). Public schools don't have their own books — the district does. These figures show the financial scale, revenue dependence, instruction-vs-overhead mix, and long-term debt that shape what a school can sustain.

Total revenue
$59.5M
+3.4% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$14,910
3,988 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 38.3%
Local: 57.1%
Federal: 4.5%
Instruction share
56.7%
of current spending · $7,643/pupil
Long-term debt
$77.4M
+53.1% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($M)
Total expenditure by year ($M)

Source: NCES F-33 Annual Survey of School System Finances (Urban Institute Education Data API). Latest year currently published: FY2020. F-33 is a district-level federal filing — it reflects the La Canada Unified as a whole, not this individual school's books. Revenue mix shows where the district's dollars come from (state aid dominates in CA via LCFF). Instruction share is current expenditure on instruction ÷ total current expenditure (national benchmark ~60%). Long-term debt is end-of-year outstanding (mostly facilities bonds).

📊 Key takeaway · Class of 2025

LA Canada High School sent 1,135 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 18.6% were admitted, producing a UC Reach of 59.4%41.3 percentage points above the California median of 18.1%, higher than 94% of California high schools. The school produces 12.1 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.

University of California outcomes · Class of 2025
★ Top 10% UC Reach
UC Reach
59%
211 admits / 355 seniors
+28.8 pp above peer median (30.6%) · Ranked #2 of 11 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 44.7% 2025 · 59.4%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.1%
Peer median
30.6%
Top 10%
51.2%
This school
59.4%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.1% Top 10% ≥ 51.2% This school 59.4%

Higher than 94% of California high schools (978 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

LA Canada High School's UC Reach of 59.4% clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (51.2%) — meaning roughly 59 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.

Against similar schools, LA Canada High School stands out clearly — the peer-group median is 30.6%.

For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 97.3% — a gap of 38 pp from where this school sits.

Overall, LA Canada High School's UC Reach is higher than 94% of California high schools (978 ranked).

UC Application Reach
319.7%
1135 applications
Strong UC pursuit. The typical senior is applying to about 3 top-6 UC campuses — a signal of a college-driven student body.
In context: CA median 74.9% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 241.0% · Los Angeles Co. Top 10% ≥ 252.0% · higher than 97% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
18.6%
211 / 1135 applications
In context: CA median 26.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 10% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
17.5%
37 enrolled of 211 admitted
Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.
UC Enrollment Reach
10.4%
37 enrollees / 355 seniors
Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what % ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.
Student-Counselor Ratio
257:1
7.8 FTE counselors · 2,007 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 81 fewer students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
92%
323 of 352 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · +35.9 pp above · Los Angeles Co. 68.2%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
92%
80% finished in 4 yrs · N=61 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6% · +3.2 pp above.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
47.0
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.4 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 41.5 · higher than 94% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
12.1
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.3 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 9.7 · higher than 94% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
355
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
1,989
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.82
98th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships
Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs
3.96
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.22

UC funnel — which kids are getting in at what GPA

Combining the school's applicant pool GPA, admit pool GPA, actual admit rate, and statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, we can read which GPA tiers tend to get in — and which don't.

🎯 Who's actually getting into UC from LA Canada High School
Campus 4.00+ GPA 3.70–3.99 GPA 3.30–3.69 GPA < 3.30 GPA
UC Berkeley Real shot Long odds Filtered out Filtered out
UCLA Real shot Long odds Filtered out Filtered out
UC San Diego Strong shot Moderate Long odds Filtered out
UC Santa Barbara Strong shot Real shot Long odds Filtered out
UC Irvine Strong shot Real shot Long odds Filtered out
UC Davis Strong shot Strong shot Real shot Filtered out
Strong shot = ≥30% statewide admit rate at this band · Real shot = 10–29% · Moderate = 5–9% · Long odds = 1–4% · Filtered out = under 1%. Tiers map this school's likely outcomes by GPA tier using statewide CA admit rates from UCOP 2025.

The numbers behind it

Campus Applicant GPA Admit GPA Lift Admit rate vs peer schools @ same GPA
UC Berkeley 4.03 4.22 +0.19 12.4% Peers +0.21 · matches
UCLA 3.98 4.28 +0.30 10.0% Peers +0.28 · matches
UC San Diego 3.96 4.26 +0.30 19.2% Peers +0.29 · matches
UC Santa Barbara 3.93 4.25 +0.32 29.0% Peers +0.30 · matches
UC Irvine 3.93 4.12 +0.18 12.8% Peers +0.26 · wider
UC Davis 3.93 4.18 +0.25 29.9% Peers +0.24 · matches
📊 Statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, 2025 (for reference)
GPA band UCB UCLA UCSD UCSB UCI UCD
4.00+ 17.0% 15.1% 45.2% 62.3% 46.3% 65.9%
3.70–3.99 3.1% 1.6% 9.3% 17.6% 17.0% 31.1%
3.30–3.69 0.8% 0.5% 1.5% 2.8% 2.4% 10.3%
3.00–3.29 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.4% 0.3% 1.9%
< 3.00 0.7% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.7%
How we infer the tier labels: Each tier comes from the statewide CA admit rate at that GPA band at that UC. The "vs peers" column compares this school's lift (admit GPA − applicant GPA) to the average lift at ~100–300 other CA schools with similar applicant pool GPA. What this isn't: a guarantee. UC comprehensive review weighs essays, course rigor, demographics, and context-of-opportunity beyond GPA. A 3.9 with strong context can land an admit; a 4.0 with weak essays can be denied. Use as a baseline expectation, not a verdict. Per-campus year is shown when it differs from the headline year (UCOP doesn't always publish admit-GPA for every campus every year).

Where LA Canada High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (18.6% actual vs. 21.0% expected).

UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025

UC Admit Rate %
UC Reach % (where available)
UC Admits (count, right axis)

Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data — applicant/admit totals may count a student at multiple campuses more than once.

Campus Breakdown — 2025

Campus Applicants Admits Enrollees Admit Rate UC Reach Yield Avg GPA (App) Avg GPA (Adm)
UC Berkeley → Elite 170 21 7 12.4% 5.9% 33.3% 4.03 4.22
UCLA → Elite 220 22 4 10.0% 6.2% 18.2% 3.98 4.28
UC San Diego → Selective 208 40 8 19.2% 11.3% 20.0% 3.96 4.26
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 210 61 9 29.0% 17.2% 14.8% 3.93 4.25
UC Irvine → Selective 180 23 4 12.8% 6.5% 17.4% 3.93 4.12
UC Davis → 147 44 5 29.9% 12.4% 11.4% 3.93 4.18
= UCOP-suppressed (count below 3 students, hidden for privacy — actual value is 0, 1, or 2, not necessarily zero). Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once; Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which requires unique-student counts. See methodology →

What This Means

A large share of the senior class applies to UC, indicating strong college-going culture and UC pipeline development.
A large share of the class applies to UC, so the admit rate runs lower than the application volume alone might suggest — expected when many students apply broadly, including to reach campuses. UC Reach (which credits every admit relative to the class) is the truer read of how the class fares: a strong Reach alongside a moderate admit rate is healthy, not a contradiction.
UC Reach is very strong — more than 59% of seniors are earning UC admission. This places the school among California's highest-performing high schools on this metric.
Strong UC Reach paired with low yield: students are earning UC admission at high rates and then enrolling elsewhere. The pattern is characteristic of competitive college-preparatory schools where many students choose more selective private colleges or out-of-state flagships over UC — UC functions as a strong backup option rather than a first choice.
The school generates broad UC access, but fewer students are reaching the most selective UC campuses (UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCSB, UCI). Targeted academic enrichment and campus-fit advising may help.
UC Reach has improved meaningfully compared to the prior year — a positive trajectory worth monitoring and reinforcing.
Note: admit counts used here are campus-level totals. A student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted twice. When UCOP unique-student data becomes available it will be loaded automatically and the labels will update.
Compare with other schools → See Los Angeles County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for LA Canada High School

A board- and LCAP-ready intelligence brief: your enrollment retention and college outcomes, benchmarked against your closest competitors, with a 5-year forecast, concrete steps to act on, and the rigor + outcomes story you can share with your families. Built from primary public data — prepared for you, not auto-generated.

  • Your UC Reach (59.4%) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
  • Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -0.6%/yr) with the revenue at stake
  • Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals
See a sample report →

For Parents

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