Alameda Science and Technology Institute: Full Guide

Location: Alameda, CA

Are you a student or parent at Alameda Science and Technology Institute? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?

We've written the best guide to ASTI available. Here we'll cover:

  • Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
  • How safe ASTI is to attend
  • SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by ASTI students
  • Which AP/IB classes you can take at ASTI
  • Every sports team you can join at ASTI

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Alameda Science and Technology Institute is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Alameda, CA in Alameda County.

Based on its location, ASTI is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:


Contact Information

Mailing address:

Alameda Science and Technology Institute
555 Atlantic Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501

Phone number: 5107484021

Alameda Science and Technology Institute homepage: https://sites.google.com/site/alamedasti/

Principal: Tracy Corbally
Email the principal: [email protected]


Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Alameda Science and Technology Institute is 170 students, making it a somewhat small high school, in the bottom half of all California high schools by size.

As a smaller-sized high school, ASTI will feel like a cozy learning environment. With fewer than 100 students in your class, you'll likely get to know most other students and your teachers well. This will give you the feeling of a small liberal arts college.

But with a smaller student body, you won't have as many activities and clubs to choose from. If you find ASTI lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.


Growth in Student Body Size

Is Alameda Science and Technology Institute growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at ASTI has increased over the past few years. We calculate this by comparing enrollment in grades 9 to 12.

Male Students Female Students All Students
9th grade 26 22 48
10th grade 23 18 41
11th grade 16 23 39
12th grade 22 19 41

As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 7 students larger than the senior class. This suggests that the school is growing in size and taking on more students.

There are a few reasons this could be happening. The city of Alameda could be growing in population, thus sending more students into ASTI. Alternatively, ASTI could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.


Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Alameda Science and Technology Institute?

From our statistics, ASTI has a 52:48 split between male and female students in the high school grades.

ASTI has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Alameda County. Since the student body is roughly half and half, it should feel like there are equal numbers of boys and girls in your classes.

This usually means that ASTI doesn't strongly select for either males or females, unlike other schools that have a large majority of males or females.


Ethnicity Breakdown

What's the racial diversity at Alameda Science and Technology Institute? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?

From our statistics, ASTI has a somewhat homogenous student body, with the majority of students identifying as one ethnicity, but not representing over 70% of the student body. Most schools in California fit this profile, so ASTI isn't out of the ordinary. Most students attending class with you will be of the predominant ethnicity, but there will be meaningful diversity from other races.

The majority of students at ASTI are Asian. Across all of California, Asian students make up 11.5% of enrollment, but it's rare for a school to be majority Asian. Thus ASTI is notable in California for having such a strong Asian presence.

Percentage Number
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.0% 0
Asian 58.8% 100
Hispanic 16.4% 28
Black 5.8% 10
White 13.5% 23
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander 1.7% 3
Two or more races 3.5% 6

High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Alameda. If you'd like to see how other nearby schools look in diversity, just google "[name of school] prepscholar" to find our guide to that specific school.


Income Level of ASTI Families

What are the family incomes of students at Alameda Science and Technology Institute? To determine this, we look at the number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunches, a classification by the US federal government.

To qualify for a reduced price meal, family income needs to be below 185% of the federal poverty guidelines. For a family of 4, this means an income of around $45,000 or below.

To qualify for a free meal, family income needs to be below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines. For a family of 4, this means an income of around $32,000 or below.

The lower the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced price meals, the higher the income levels are likely to be.

At ASTI, 4.1% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 19.4% qualify for free lunches.

This means ASTI has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at ASTI don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Alameda is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.

Number Percent
Reduced-price lunches 7 4.1%
Free lunches 33 19.4%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches 130 76.4%

As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Alameda and doesn't speak much about the school itself.

Because ASTI is in the top quartile of schools by family income, it's likely to be well-funded relative to other high schools in California. This means you'll likely have access to advanced coursework like AP/IB classes and better-funded extracurriculars and sports.

It's still up to you, though, to take advantage of the resources ASTI has to offer. If you work hard and spend your time effectively, you'll likely be well positioned to succeed in college and beyond.

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School Safety

How safe is Alameda Science and Technology Institute to attend? Can you expect a lot of conflict as a student here?

To study this, we look at disciplinary data for two types of incidents at ASTI: referrals to law enforcement (when incidents are reported to police), and arrests.

These are the most serious disciplinary actions available to school administration and are more severe than suspensions or expulsions. Suspensions are often discretionary and can be given just for being disruptive in class. In contrast, law enforcement referrals and arrests often indicate incidents that put the safety of other ASTI students at risk.

In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 0 referrals to law enforcement, and 0 school-related arrests. This is out of a total enrollment of 169 students.

To put this into perspective, most California schools (59% of them) reported 0 law enforcement referrals and arrests.

Compare this school with other high schools in the same school district, using the following table:

Alameda Unified School District Safety

School Name Total Referred Total Arrests Enrollment
Alameda High 0 0 1855
Encinal High 0 0 1096
Island High (continuation) 0 0 179
Alameda Community Learning Center 0 0 306
Bay Area School Of Enterprise 0 0 146
Nea Community Learning Center 0 0 0

Academic Performance


Now we get to a major aspect of assessing a high school: academic performance. How good of an education will you get at Alameda Science and Technology Institute? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about ASTI's academics here.


Standardized Testing


Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Alameda Science and Technology Institute students. These are tests that are administered to large populations of students for comparison purposes.

Let’s start by taking a look at the data for nationally administered standardized tests.

SAT Scores

As you probably know, the SAT is a critical test used for college admissions. The higher the score you get, the better your academic performance compared to students nationwide, and the easier it is to get into top colleges.

We did in-depth research and found the average Alameda Science and Technology Institute SAT scores.

The average composite SAT score is a 1710 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 61 at ASTI take the SAT.

This is a very high average SAT score, putting Alameda Science and Technology Institute in the top 10% of all California high schools. The average student at ASTI is already scoring in the 75th percentile nationwide or higher - in fact, 82% of students score above the national average. The top students will likely be competing in the top tier nationwide.

Because the SAT measures academic ability, this is a good sign that you're surrounded by high-achieving peers. If you can keep up with your classmates at ASTI - or even exceed them - you'll have a great shot at getting into very competitive colleges.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source Critical Reading Math Writing Composite
ASTI 562 594 560 1710
California 498 510 496 1504
United States 495 511 484 1490

Note that the SAT has since changed to a 1600 scale, but the trends above for your high school are likely to continue. Just use this guide to convert between the old 2400 scale and the new 1600 scale.

To learn more about SAT percentile rankings, read our guide on what SAT percentiles really mean.

How good is 1710 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1710 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1710 or any other SAT score!

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Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

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ACT Scores

In California, the ACT is less popular than the SAT. Fewer students take the ACT, and typically these students are more motivated and academically prepared for college. Therefore, it's harder to compare Alameda Science and Technology Institute ACT scores with the rest of the country.

At ASTI, the average ACT composite score was 26, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 20 out of 169 total students take the ACT.

This is very good performance, putting ASTI in the top 25% of high schools in California by ACT score. Nationwide, a 24 on the ACT is 74th percentile, so most ACT test takers at ASTI are well above average.

Since the ACT is designed to gauge what you learn in school, high ACT scores are are a good indication that you'll get a great education and be surrounded by other students who value academic achievements.

Here are the average English, Math, Reading, and Science scores for ASTI compared to California and the US:

Average ACT Scores

Source English Math Reading Science
ASTI 26 27 26 25
California 21.8 22.8 22.3 21.7
United States 20.3 20.9 21.3 20.8

Scores provided are for the 2013-14 school year.

Find out more about percentile rankings and the ACT in this article.

Every individual is different. What counts as a good ACT score for you? Learn more with this article!

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State Tests

As of 2014, eleventh graders attending Alameda Science and Technology Institute must take standardized tests in English/Language Arts and Math as part of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). These align with the new Common Core standards and are called the "Smarter Balanced" tests.

If ASTI students meet or exceed state standards, they're academically prepared to graduate high school and go to college. Specifically, we care about the percentage of students who meet or exceed state standards. The larger this number, the higher the preparation of students at ASTI.

English/Language Arts

At Alameda Science and Technology Institute, 95% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered excellent and puts ASTI in the top 5% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The vast majority of ASTI students easily meet state standards, and many of them are likely well above average. Students here are very well prepared academically.

English/Language Arts Test Results (2015)

 

Read more about what’s measured in each ELA area score here.


Math

The other major test taken for state assessments is Math. Across the state, Math performance is generally lower than English/Language Arts performance, so it's natural for this number to be lower.

At Alameda Science and Technology Institute, 89% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts ASTI in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of ASTI students don't meet state standards, and only a small percentage pass.

Math Test Results (2015)

 

Read more about what’s measured in each Math area score, go here.


Sports Teams


What’s Next?


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Sources

The data on this page is drawn from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to):