Granite Hills High School: Full Guide

Location: Apple Valley, CA

Are you a student or parent at Granite Hills High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?

We've written the best guide to Granite Hills High available. Here we'll cover:

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Granite Hills High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Apple Valley, CA in San Bernardino County.

Based on its location, Granite Hills High is classified as a school in a rural fringe area, near an urbanized area. Here's the location on a map:

Contact Information

Mailing address:

Granite Hills High School
22900 Esaws Rd.
Apple Valley, CA 92307

Phone number: 7609612290

Granite Hills High School homepage: http://www.ghhscougars.com/

Principal: Charles McCall
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Granite Hills High School is 1619 students, making it a large high school, in the top 25% of all California high schools by size.

Attending Granite Hills High will feel like attending a small college. You'll have a few hundred students in your class, enough to provide an interesting set of activities, sports, and classes to try. But compared to the largest high schools in California, the student body size won't be overwhelming.

Growth in Student Body Size

Is Granite Hills High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at Granite Hills High has decreased over the past few years. We calculate this by comparing enrollment in grades 9 to 12.

	Male Students	Female Students	All Students
9^th grade	188	195	383
10^th grade	184	187	371
11^th grade	213	200	413
12^th grade	232	219	451

As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 68 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Granite Hills High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.

There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Apple Valley could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Granite Hills High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Granite Hills High School?

From our statistics, Granite Hills High has a 51:49 split between male and female students in the high school grades.

Granite Hills High has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in San Bernardino 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 Granite Hills High 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 Granite Hills High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?

From our statistics, Granite Hills High has a diverse student body. No single ethnicity composes more than 50% of all students, which means you'll be surrounded by a diverse set of students in class. Only a third of California schools show this much diversity.

The most common ethnicity at Granite Hills High is Hispanic. In California, 51.5% of all students are Hispanic, making it the most common ethnicity. Even though Granite Hills High is relatively diverse, students of Hispanic descent are the most common ethnicity here.

	Percentage	Number
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.3%	6
Asian	3.9%	64
Hispanic	40.7%	659
Black	12.7%	207
White	39.6%	642
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander	0.6%	11
Two or more races	1.8%	30

High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Apple Valley. 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 Granite Hills High Families

What are the family incomes of students at Granite Hills High School? 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 Granite Hills High, 6.9% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 52.6% qualify for free lunches.

This means Granite Hills High has a below average level of poverty. With most students not qualifying for free or reduced price lunches, Granite Hills High is below average among California schools in poverty level. The income level of families in Apple Valley is thus likely to be relatively high.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	112	6.9%
Free lunches	853	52.6%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	654	40.3%

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

Granite Hills High is in the middle 50% of schools by income level. Generally, higher income level schools are better-funded and have a higher quality range of classes and activities. Granite Hills High is likely in the middle of the pack in this regard and will give you a good set of options to try.

If you have any interests that Granite Hills High doesn't cover, look to your local community for activities, or to the Internet for self-study AP classes.

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School Safety

How safe is Granite Hills High School 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 Granite Hills High: 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 Granite Hills High students at risk.

In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 0 referrals to law enforcement, and 4 school-related arrests (2 males, 2 females). This is out of a total enrollment of 1867 students.

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

This means that 0.2 Granite Hills High is a safe school. For every 100 students, there is much fewer than 1 law-enforcement related action. It's not a perfect record, but it happens so infrequently that it might have just been a few bad apples.

With this record, is Granite Hills High School significantly different from other schools in the area? It could be that Granite Hills High has an especially bad record, or it could be that the local area shows a pattern.

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

Apple Valley Unified School District Safety

School Name	Total Arrests	Enrollment
Academy For Academic Excellence	0	1369
High Desert Premier Academy	2	517
Apple Valley High	0	2113
Willow Park High	0	55

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 Granite Hills High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about Granite Hills High's academics here.

Graduation Rate

To start off, an important benchmark of academic achievement is graduation rate. For all students who start high school at Granite Hills High, the state of California wants as many students to graduate as possible, since a high school diploma can mean a big difference in getting a job.

At Granite Hills High, 89% (of 460) Granite Hills High students graduated within four years of starting high school.

Here's how this stacks up to other schools. The California state government has defined 90% as a target rate. The state average is around 80-85%.

Granite Hills High is in the 67th percentile of all public high schools in California for graduation rate. This is above average. Generally, a graduation rate of above 90% is considered good and well above average, and below 75% is well below average.

Note: This data comes from a few years back, but the trends are likely to stay the same, since schools don't get significantly better or worse within a short period of time.

Standardized Testing

Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Granite Hills High School 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 Granite Hills High School SAT scores.

The average composite SAT score is a 1440 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 173 at Granite Hills High take the SAT.

This is a below-average SAT score, putting Granite Hills High School in the bottom 50% of all California schools. Only 39% of students here score the national average or higher. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Granite Hills High may offer a somewhat lacking high school education, compared to schools with higher SAT averages.

Note, however, that an average is just an average - top performers will still be able to impress. If you work hard and get an SAT score well above Granite Hills High's average, you'll have a great shot at entering a good college.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source	Critical Reading	Math	Writing	Composite
Granite Hills High	486	477	479	1440
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 1440 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1440 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1440 or any other SAT score!

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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 Granite Hills High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.

At Granite Hills High, the average ACT composite score was 20, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 60 out of 1618 total students take the ACT.

This is below average performance, putting Granite Hills High in the bottom 50% of California high schools. Most students who take the ACT are below the national average.

Since the ACT tests what you learn in school, this is a pretty strong indicator that you'll get an average or below average education at Granite Hills High.

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

Average ACT Scores

Source	English	Math	Reading	Science
Granite Hills High	20	20	21	22
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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Advanced Placement (AP)

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Granite Hills High School students credit for college.

Here's what we're looking for: high average AP test scores as well as high AP passing rates.

AP Scores

Every year, roughly 168 students in grades 9-12 at Granite Hills High take 335 AP exams. It's important to understand how students score on the AP - earning a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP test means passing the test and often earning college credit.

The average score of all AP exams taken at Granite Hills High is 2.4 out of 5.

Unfortunately, this score puts Granite Hills High at below average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the majority of students who take AP tests at Granite Hills High don't pass. This performance places Granite Hills High School in the bottom 50% of schools for AP tests in California.

This isn't all bad news. It's already good that Granite Hills High offers an AP program, so you can start dipping your toes into college-level courses. Some schools are new to offering AP courses, and teachers often get better at preparing students for AP tests. Furthermore, a good number of students still earn a passing grade of 3 or above. With hard work throughout the year, you'll still be able to beat your school's average.

We have specific data on how many students got a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (out of 5) on AP exams in the chart below:

AP Test-Taking Statistics

Another way to gauge the quality of a school's AP program is to see how many AP students actually took AP exams at Granite Hills High School. If a lot of students enroll in AP courses but don't actually take the AP tests, it can be a sign that students don't feel adequately prepared to take the test, or the school isn't encouraging students to take the exams enough.

At Granite Hills High, there is a total enrollment of 305 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).

Of AP-taking students, 0 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 159 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 125 took AP courses but took NO tests.

It seems that most students at Granite Hills High School who take AP courses do not take any AP exams at the end of the year. This is quite unusual, and it's possible that there is a reporting error from the high school to the government (where we got this information). Another possibility is that Granite Hills High offers an AP course to students, but don't expect them to take the actual AP exam.

You may want to ask your school counselor about whether AP course students usually sign up for the test. If not, ask why that is.

Note: The most recent data we have available is from 2012, so the statistics may have changed since then. Most likely, however, the trends are likely to continue - above average schools are likely to stay above average, and below average schools are likely to stay below average.

AP Passing Rates

For AP students at Granite Hills High School who take the exam, it's important to know how they do. Here we have specific data on how many students got a passing grade (a 3 or above) on all, some, or none of the AP exams that they took.

Of all AP test takers, 47 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 52 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 49 students didn't pass ANY AP exam they took.

This is good performance. The majority of students pass SOME or ALL of the AP tests. Only a minority of students at Granite Hills High School fail all the AP exams they take.

Overall, this points to a fairly strong AP program at Granite Hills High. Most students are able to pass at least one of the AP tests they take, which means the teaching is likely of acceptable quality, and the students are motivated to do well. However, the program isn't strong across the board. Some teachers or courses may be better than others, and students at Granite Hills High may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.

If you attend Granite Hills High, this means you'll have a good starting point to work from - but if you want to pass all the AP tests you take, you'll need to work hard and use good study strategies.

To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Granite Hills High School, you'll have to talk to your guidance counselor (who can then help you find that information). For instance, one AP Calculus teacher may have an above-90% passing rate, while another might only have a 50% passing rate. If you can, you'll want to take the class with the teacher who has more students get a 3 or above on the AP exam.

Find out more about the average score for each AP subject here.

State Tests

As of 2014, eleventh graders attending Granite Hills High School 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 Granite Hills High 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 Granite Hills High.

English/Language Arts

At Granite Hills High School, 50% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered above average and puts Granite Hills High in the top 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. Around half of Granite Hills High students pass state standards, and around half do not.

This specific percentage isn't much cause for concern - because the standards have gotten harder with the Common Core, the pass rate at Granite Hills High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects Granite Hills High's roughly average ranking among California high schools.

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 Granite Hills High School, 14% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Granite Hills High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Granite Hills High 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.

Academic Offerings

In addition to the standard high school curriculum, many high schools like Granite Hills High School offer advanced coursework as part of the Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs.

Brief Intro to AP/IB

AP and IB courses are designed at the difficulty level of college introductory classes. There are several important benefits to taking advanced coursework at Granite Hills High. First, taking more advanced classes shows colleges that you're committed to challenging yourself academically, and that you're one of the more advanced students at Granite Hills High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.

Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Granite Hills High AP/IB coursework as college coursework. In some cases, you'll be able to skip introductory-level classes and move to more advanced classes. In other cases, you'll be able to avoid having to take required courses and might even be able to graduate earlier than the standard 4 years. Often this will require you to pass the AP test, getting a score of 3 or above.

So what advanced courses does Granite Hills High School offer?

AP Courses

Granite Hills High School offers AP courses in 20 subjects.

This is an impressive number of AP subjects, putting Granite Hills High School in the top 25% of California schools in AP offerings. You'll likely have all of the most popular AP courses available to you, as well as some broader interests.

The total number of AP subjects is 38, so Granite Hills High is missing a good number of subjects, but these are likely the least popular subjects, like less popular foreign languages. If there are any AP courses you want to take that aren't being offered at Granite Hills High, ask your counselor for other options.

Of course, keep in mind that quality matters even more than quantity - it's important that your AP courses are taught well by engaging teachers. But the strong AP program at Granite Hills High likely means you'll be in good hands.

The following AP courses were offered at Granite Hills High during 2015-2016:

Course Title
Art History
Biology
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Chemistry
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Environmental Science
European History
French Language and Culture
Macroeconomics
Physics 1: Algebra-Based
Psychology
Spanish Language and Culture
Statistics
Studio Art: 2-D Design
Studio Art: 3-D Design
Studio Art: Drawing
United States Government and Politics
United States History

Sports Teams

Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at Granite Hills High School. Sports are an integral part of many students' high school experiences. The more sports that are available, and the more levels supported (Frosh, JV, Varsity), the more likely you'll be able to participate in a sport at Granite Hills High.

By the way, the Granite Hills High mascot is the Cougars. Go Cougars!

Granite Hills High School fields 19 teams for girls' sports. This is a high number that puts Granite Hills High in the top 25% of California schools that offer girls' sports. If you're a female, you'll have lots of options of sports and levels to try out for.

And now for the boys: Granite Hills High School fields 21 teams for boys' sports. This puts Granite Hills High in the top 25% of California schools that offer boys' sports. Boys will have a large pick of sports to try out for.

Boys Teams	Girls Teams
Lacrosse Var JV Fr	Lacrosse Var JV Fr
Basketball Var JV Fr	Basketball Var JV Fr
Golf Var JV Fr
Tennis Var JV Fr	Tennis Var JV Fr
Football Var JV Fr
Wrestling Var JV Fr
Volleyball Var JV Fr	Volleyball Var JV Fr
Baseball Var JV Fr
	Softball Var JV Fr
Waterpolo Var JV Fr	Waterpolo Var JV Fr
Trackfield Var JV Fr	Trackfield Var JV Fr
Crosscountry Var JV Fr	Crosscountry Var JV Fr
Soccer Var JV Fr	Soccer Var JV Fr
	Fieldhockey Var JV Fr

What’s Next?

Want to get more useful information about high school classes and preparing for colleges? Our blog has a ton of articles and advice on topics ranging from coursework and GPA to letters of recommendation, extracurriculars, and much more!

Ready to bulk up your schedule and maximize your college preparedness? Read all about the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.

Not quite in high school yet, but eager to get started? We've also got information for younger students interested in advanced learning opportunities, both in and out of school.

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