Portola Junior/Senior High

· Plumas County · Plumas Unified · Public

Public Plumas County 🏛 Plumas Unified → ~40 seniors CDS 3266969…
📄 Shareable scorecard →

📚AP rigor: 78th percentile nationally 📖12 AP courses 🎓95% 4-yr grad rate

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 12 AP courses offered — Elite
  • 🔢 3 calculus classes · 1 physics · 1 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 78th percentile nationally
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 95% (75th percentile nationally)

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

🎓 Where grads go

12.5% 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

UCD
5 admitted

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

💡

How Portola Junior/Senior High compares for families

Real college outcomes data available below.

  • Statewide12.5% UC Reach — 5.6 points below the California median of 18.1%.
  • vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (12.5% UC Reach vs 7.2% 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

78th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
12
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
53
≈31 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
6
3 calculus · 3 advanced
Lab science classes
2
1 physics · 1 chemistry
Other rigor signals
No dual-enrollment or gifted program reported

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
SAT/ACT test-takers
0
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
0.0
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12

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?

75th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
95%
Range: 90–100%
4-year cohort size
40
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

Title I Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

53.9%
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.

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 = 34
55.9%
incl. 17.6% exceeded
+3.5 pts above Plumas County median (52.4%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 34
8.8%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
+1.1 pts above Plumas County median (7.7%) · 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 52% -4.5
Hispanic / Latino 38% +4.9
Two or more 6% +1.0
Not reported 3% -1.8
American Indian 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 63% +4.3

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
38.3%
67 of 175 students

Absenteeism is up 13.5 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Plumas County median
27.1% · school is worse than 67% of 3 HS
Statewide median
22.9%

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)
262 (2018)239 (2026)
-8.8%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
31 (2018)36 (2026)
+16.1%

If this trend holds (-1.2%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~236 -3 $0
3 yr (2029) ~230 -9 $0
5 yr (2031) ~225 -14 $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.

Portola Junior/Senior High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Portola Junior/Senior High sits near the top of its similar-school group (ranked #1 of 5): 12% vs. a peer median of 7%.
  • Portola Junior/Senior High's UC Reach has stepped down from a peak of 21% in 2022 to 12% in 2025 — a 8-point decline worth tracking.
  • Senior-class enrollment is up 16% (31→36 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -2%.
  • At its recent rate (-1.1%/yr), enrollment projects to ~231 by 2029 — about 8 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

239 students (2026)
~231 projected (2029)
at -1.1%/yr

That's about 8 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
Portola Junior/Senior High Public 239 12.5% +16%
Peer-group median 7.2% -2%
Quincy Junior/Senior High Public 310 7.4% +12%
Loyalton High School Public 106 +43%
Plumas Charter School Public 141 -19%
Mt. Lassen Charter Public 147 +57%
American River Charter Public 274 +186%
Core Charter School Public 206 -12%
Foresthill High School Public 204 7.1% +5%
Forest Charter School Public 284 5.0% -9%
Inspire School Of Arts And Sciences Public 299 12.5% -18%
Biggs High School Public 177 -25%

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 Plumas County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Action needed
Watch — engagement collapsing under a stable surface.

On the surface Portola Junior/Senior High looks fine — enrollment is +16.1% vs. Plumas County +10.8%, and 87.7% of students stay through year-end. But <strong>chronic absenteeism is at 37.4%, up +12.6 pts since 2016-17 (county median 28.7%). Disengagement leads departure — families pull back from the day-to-day before they formally leave. The demand signal usually follows within 2–3 years.

+16.1%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+10.8%  Plumas County baseline
+5.3pp  gap vs. county
87.7%  retention (county median 87.7%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate
87.7%
157 of 179 students

22 of 179 students who enrolled at Portola Junior/Senior High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (12.3% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Plumas County median
87.7% · school is in the 100th percentile of 3 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 53rd percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (164) 82.9%
White (155) 87.1%
Hispanic / Latino (93) 86.0%
Students w/ disabilities (39) 74.4%
English learners (29) 89.7%

Nearest peer high schools

Quincy Junior/Senior High 87.7% Loyalton High School 88.8% Plumas Charter School 83.1% Mt. Lassen Charter 64.6% American River Charter 87.8%

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 — Plumas 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
$37.3M
+11.4% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$22,478
1,661 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 17.5%
Local: 71.1%
Federal: 11.3%
Instruction share
45.4%
of current spending · $7,808/pupil
Long-term debt
$54.3M
+205.0% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Plumas 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

Portola Junior/Senior High sent 37 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 13.5% were admitted, producing a UC Reach of 12.5%5.6 percentage points below the California median of 18.1%, higher than 29% of California high schools..

University of California outcomes · Class of 2025
UC Reach
12%
5 admits / 40 seniors
+5.3 pp above peer median (7.2%) · Ranked #1 of 5 similar schools
5-year trend
2022 · 20.9% 2025 · 12.5%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.1%
Peer median
7.2%
Top 10%
51.2%
This school
12.5%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.1% Top 10% ≥ 51.2% This school 12.5%

Higher than 29% of California high schools (978 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Portola Junior/Senior High's UC Reach of 12.5% is below the California median (18.1%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 51.2% or higher.

Overall, Portola Junior/Senior High's UC Reach is higher than 29% of California high schools (978 ranked).

UC Application Reach
92.5%
37 applications
In context: CA median 74.9% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 241.0% · higher than 60% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
13.5%
5 / 37 applications
In context: CA median 26.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 0% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
N/A
None enrolled of 5 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
N/A
None enrollees / 40 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
478:1
0.5 FTE counselors · 239 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 140 more students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
45%
17 of 38 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -11.2 pp vs. median.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
N/A
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
N/A
Senior Class Size
40
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
256
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.05
52nd percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

UC Outcomes Trend — 2022–2025

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 6
UC San Diego → Selective 6
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 9
UC Irvine → Selective 6
UC Davis → 10 5 50.0% 12.5%
= 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.
Fewer than 15% of seniors are earning UC admission. This may reflect a high non-UC college-going rate, significant A-G completion gaps, or an early-stage UC pipeline. A deeper review of A-G readiness and counseling capacity is warranted.
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 Plumas County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for Portola Junior/Senior High

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 (12.5%) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
  • Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -1.2%/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 →

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