No UC admissions data on file for Vista West Continuation High.

This school doesn't appear in UCOP's source-school records (it may send few or no applicants to UC). Its enrollment trend and similar-school comparison are still below.

Vista West Continuation High

· Kern County · Kern High · Public

Public Kern County 🏛 Kern High → CDS 1563529…
📄 Shareable scorecard →

🎯Top 2 Attendance (lowest chronic absenteeism) in Kern 🎯Top 10% Attendance (lowest chronic absenteeism) in CA

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 18% of US high schools
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 42% (Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

💡

How Vista West Continuation High compares for families

What families should know about Vista West Continuation High.

  • Locally🎯 Top 2 in Kern County on Attendance (lowest chronic absenteeism) — plus 1 more top-rank.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Kern Workforce 2000 Academy, Valley Oaks Charter School, Tierra Del Sol Continuation High and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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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?

Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
42%
Range: 40–44%
4-year cohort size
141
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

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

89.3%
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)

≥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.

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 = 220
11.8%
incl. 3.2% exceeded
-39.9 pts vs. Kern County median (51.7%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 226
3.5%
incl. 0.4% exceeded
-9.4 pts vs. Kern County median (12.9%) · 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

Hispanic / Latino 55% +5.8
White 28% -7.2
Black / African Am. 10%
American Indian 2% +1.7
Asian 2% +1.5
Filipino 1%
Not reported 1%
Two or more 1% -1.4
Pacific Islander 0%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 94% +9.3
Socioeconomically disadv. 14% +2.5
English learners 7% +3.6
Homeless 7% +2.5
Foster youth 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
6.0%
34 of 564 students

Absenteeism is down 55.3 pp since 2016-17. Engagement improving — a positive trajectory worth understanding and reinforcing.

Kern County median
19.6% · school is better than 98% of 47 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)
297 (2018)428 (2026)
+44.1%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
181 (2018)266 (2026)
+47.0%

If this trend holds (+4.6%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~448 +20 $0
3 yr (2029) ~490 +62 $0
5 yr (2031) ~537 +109 $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.

Vista West Continuation High — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • Senior-class enrollment is up 47% (181→266 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of +5%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+4.7%/yr); projects to ~491 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

428 students (2026)
~491 projected (2029)
at +4.7%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Vista West Continuation High Public 428 +47%
Peer-group median 9.2% +5%
Kern Workforce 2000 Academy Public 483 +23%
Valley Oaks Charter School Public 300 +1%
Tierra Del Sol Continuation High Public 291 -3%
Vista Continuation High Public 211 -20%
Centennial High School Public 2311 9.4% +4%
West High School Public 2188 9.2% +8%
Frontier High School Public 2098 8.5% -12%
North High School Public 2112 5.4% +36%
South High School Public 2092 11.5% +6%
Mcfarland High School Early College Public 1017 +29%

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

Mixed signal
Demand outpacing county is masking internal churn.

Enrollment growth is beating Kern County (+47.0% vs. +12.7%), but 374 of 593 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled?

+47.0%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+12.7%  Kern County baseline
+34.3pp  gap vs. county
36.9%  retention (county median 84.4%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
36.9%
219 of 593 students

374 of 593 students who enrolled at Vista West Continuation High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (63.1% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Kern County median
84.4% · school is in the 19th percentile of 47 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 10th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (527) 38.1%
Hispanic / Latino (315) 37.5%
White (184) 39.1%
Students w/ disabilities (97) 42.3%
Black / African Am. (60) 28.3%
English learners (37) 40.5%

Nearest peer high schools

Kern Workforce 2000 Academy 35.6% Valley Oaks Charter School 87.3% Tierra Del Sol Continuation High 37.4% Vista Continuation High 36.1% Centennial High School 89.9%

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 — Kern High (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
$740.6M
+25.7% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,478
42,370 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 62.0%
Local: 25.3%
Federal: 12.7%
Instruction share
45.5%
of current spending · $6,660/pupil
Long-term debt
$376.0M
-11.0% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Kern High 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).

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for Vista West Continuation 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 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 4.6%/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

Researching colleges for your kid at Vista West Continuation High?

Get a personalized College Plan Audit — find Reach, Target, and Safety colleges matched to your kid's GPA, test scores, intended major, and your family's budget. Free.

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For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →