Vista Meridian Global Academy

Santa Ana · Orange County · Orange County Department of Education · Public

Public Orange County Orange County Department of Education → ~64 seniors CDS 3010306…

Data Year

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Lorin Griset Academy → Valley Vista High → Nova Academy Early College High School → Cesar E. Chavez High → Marie L. Hare High → Compare all similar →

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How Vista Meridian Global Academy compares for families

What families should know about Vista Meridian Global Academy.

▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Lorin Griset Academy, Valley Vista High, Nova Academy Early College High School and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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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.

About 1 in 4 students read and write at grade level — below the state norm — worth asking what extra support looks like.

Fewer than 1 in 10 students do math at grade level — below the state norm — worth asking what extra support looks like.

ELA — met or exceeded

n = 55

23.6%

incl. 1.8% exceeded

-40.5 pts vs. Orange County median (64.1%) · CA median 54.5% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.4%

Math — met or exceeded

n = 54

0.0%

incl. 0.0% exceeded

-37.0 pts vs. Orange County median (37.0%) · CA median 21.4% · 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

Hispanic / Latino 95% -2.0

Not reported 3%

White 1%

Black / African Am. 1%

Program subgroups

Socioeconomically disadv. 97%

English learners 39%

Students w/ disabilities 5% -2.6

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.

38% of students miss 10%+ of school days — above the state's ~23%. Ask what the school is doing about engagement.

Chronic absent

37.8%

102 of 270 students

Absenteeism is up 12.4 pp since 2023-24. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Orange County median

17.8% · school is worse than 82% of 95 HS

Statewide median

22.8%

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)

173 (2024) → 247 (2026)

+42.8%

Grade 12 (graduating class)

64 (2025) → 54 (2026)

-15.6%

How does Vista Meridian Global Academy really compare on getting kids to college?

Unlock a head-to-head snapshot of Vista Meridian Global Academy against its 10 most similar nearby schools — matched on size, location, type. See exactly where it stands on the college pipeline.

The full head-to-head table — every peer school's UC Reach, side by side.

Enrollment trend + 3-year projection — is this school growing or quietly shrinking?

The plain-English read on what it all means for your family.

Your similar-school group includes

Lorin Griset Academy · Valley Vista High · Nova Academy Early College High School · Cesar E. Chavez High · Marie L. Hare High · Coast High School · +4 more

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

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

86% of students who start the year here finish it here.

Critical

Bleeding from both ends.

Enrollment down 15.6% vs. county -9.8%, AND stability (86.3%) below the county median. Fewer families are choosing the school, and the ones who do aren't staying through year-end. Chronic absenteeism is also at 37.8% (up +12.4 pts from 2023-24) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

-15.6% senior class, grade 12 (2025–2026)

-9.8% Orange County baseline

-5.8pp gap vs. county

86.3% retention (county median 91.8%)

Senior class (grade 12) — indexed to 100 at 2025

Stability rate by year (raw %)

Stability rate

86.3%

239 of 277 students

38 of 277 students who enrolled at Vista Meridian Global Academy this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (13.7% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Orange County median

91.8% · school is in the 26th percentile of 95 HS

Statewide median

87.3% · in the 46th percentile of 1,734 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (271) 87.8%

Hispanic / Latino (269) 86.6%

English learners (108) 79.6%

Students w/ disabilities (34) 94.1%

Nearest peer high schools

Lorin Griset Academy 22.5% Valley Vista High 41.2% Nova Academy Early College High School 82.8% Cesar E. Chavez High 26.7% Marie L. Hare High 41.2%

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 — Orange County Department of Education (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

$387.5M

+24.1% since FY2017

Per-pupil revenue

$139,729

2,773 students enrolled

Revenue mix

State: 22.4%
Local: 57.3%
Federal: 20.3%

Instruction share

30.6%

of current spending · $23,283/pupil

Long-term debt

$9.9M

-23.3% 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 Orange County Department of Education 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).

UC Reach Score ⓘ methodology

UC Application Reach Score ⓘ

16 applications

In context: CA median 81 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 240 · Orange Co. Top 10% ≥ 294 · higher than 5% of CA HS.

UC Admit Rate ⓘ

N/A

— / 16 applications

UC Yield Rate ⓘ

N/A

— enrolled of — 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 Score ⓘ

N/A

— enrollees / 64 seniors

Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what share 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.

A-G Completion ⓘ

About half of graduates finish the UC/CSU course requirements — about the state norm.

53%

31 of 58 graduates · 2024-25 cohort

In context: CA median 55.9% · -2.5 pp vs. median · Orange Co. 60.5%.

Selective UC Reach (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI — incl. the Elite two) ⓘ

N/A

Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA) ⓘ

N/A

Senior Class Size ⓘ

CDE grade 12 (exact)

Total School Enrollment ⓘ

260

All grades · CDE Census Day

Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs ⓘ

3.98

Campus Breakdown — 2025

Campus	Applicants	Admits	Enrollees	Admit Rate	UC Reach Score	Yield	Avg GPA (App)	Avg GPA (Adm)
UCLA → Elite	8	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	4.00	—^†
UC Irvine → Selective	8	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.97	—^†

† = 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 is measured against the whole senior class. See methodology →

What This Means

Note: the UC Reach Score sums campus-level admits across the top-six UC campuses, so a student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted at each. It reflects competitive admit volume relative to class size — admit-events, not distinct students — which is why a Score can exceed 100.

Compare with other schools → See Orange County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for Vista Meridian Global Academy

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✓Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals

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At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Vista Meridian Global Academy is a public high school in Santa Ana, Orange County, California with 64 seniors in the Class of 2025.

53% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).

Enrollment was 247 students in 2026, up 43% since 2024.

Sources: University of California Office of the President (admissions), California Department of Education (enrollment, A-G, college-going), and the school's own published documents where named.

Questions families ask

What percentage of Vista Meridian Global Academy graduates complete the A-G requirements? 53% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).

How many students attend Vista Meridian Global Academy? Enrollment was 247 students in 2026, up 43% since 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 Vista Meridian Global Academy?

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