Location: Strathmore, CA
Are you a student or parent at Harmony Magnet Academy? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Harmony Magnet Academy available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Harmony Magnet Academy is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Harmony Magnet Academy students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Harmony Magnet Academy
- Every sports team you can join at Harmony Magnet Academy
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Harmony Magnet Academy is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Strathmore, CA in Tulare County.
Based on its location, Harmony Magnet Academy 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:
Harmony Magnet Academy600 W. Grand Ave. Porterville, CA 93257
Phone number: 5595680347
Harmony Magnet Academy homepage: http://www.portervilleschools.org/
Principal: Jeff BrownEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Harmony Magnet Academy is 488 students, making it a somewhat large high school, in the top half of all California high schools by size.
As a mid-sized high school, Harmony Magnet Academy strikes the balance between size and comfort. There will be enough students to provide a diversity of experiences, like clubs and sports, for you to join. But it'll be small enough that you'll likely get to know most people in your class.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Harmony Magnet Academy growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Harmony Magnet Academy 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 | 65 | 80 | 145 |
| 10th grade | 47 | 54 | 101 |
| 11th grade | 51 | 62 | 113 |
| 12th grade | 64 | 65 | 129 |
As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 16 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 Strathmore could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Harmony Magnet Academy. Alternatively, Harmony Magnet Academy could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Harmony Magnet Academy?
From our statistics, Harmony Magnet Academy has a 47:53 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Harmony Magnet Academy has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Tulare 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy are Hispanic. In California, Hispanic students make up the majority of all students at 51.5%, and are thus the most common ethnicity. Predominantly Hispanic schools are the most common type of homogenous school, and Harmony Magnet Academy fits within this category.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.6% | 3 |
| Asian | 4.0% | 20 |
| Hispanic | 60.6% | 296 |
| Black | 0.2% | 1 |
| White | 30.7% | 150 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.4% | 2 |
| Two or more races | 3.2% | 16 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Strathmore. 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 Harmony Magnet Academy Families
What are the family incomes of students at Harmony Magnet Academy? 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 Harmony Magnet Academy, 9.0% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 47.9% qualify for free lunches.
This means Harmony Magnet Academy has a below average level of poverty. With most students not qualifying for free or reduced price lunches, Harmony Magnet Academy is below average among California schools in poverty level. The income level of families in Strathmore is thus likely to be relatively high.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 44 | 9.0% |
| Free lunches | 234 | 47.9% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 210 | 43.0% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Strathmore and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Harmony Magnet Academy 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. Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy doesn't cover, look to your local community for activities, or to the Internet for self-study AP classes.
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.
School Safety
How safe is Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy: 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 559 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:
Porterville Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citrus High | 0 | 0 | 183 |
| Monache High | 0 | 0 | 1928 |
| Porterville High | 0 | 0 | 1867 |
| Vine Street Community Day | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Granite Hills High | 0 | 4 | 1867 |
| Prospect Education Center | 0 | 0 | 145 |
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 Harmony Magnet Academy? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Harmony Magnet Academy's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy SAT scores.
The average composite SAT score is a 1480 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 122 at Harmony Magnet Academy take the SAT.
This is an average SAT score, putting Harmony Magnet Academy right around the national average. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Harmony Magnet Academy will offer a fairly standard high school education, neither strongly lacking or outperforming.
Note, however, that this is just an average - the top students can still exceed the average significantly. If you can rise far above your school average, you'll have a great shot at entering a strong college.
Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:
Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)
| Source | Critical Reading | Math | Writing | Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harmony Magnet Academy | 491 | 501 | 494 | 1480 |
| 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 1480 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1480 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1480 or any other SAT score!
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.
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 Harmony Magnet Academy ACT scores with the rest of the country.
At Harmony Magnet Academy, the average ACT composite score was 24, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 42 out of 488 total students take the ACT.
This is very good performance, putting Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy compared to California and the US:
Average ACT Scores
| Source | English | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harmony Magnet Academy | 23 | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| 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!
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 ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
Advanced Placement (AP)
Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Harmony Magnet Academy 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 137 students in grades 9-12 at Harmony Magnet Academy take 247 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 Harmony Magnet Academy is 2.7 out of 5.
This score puts Harmony Magnet Academy at average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the number of students who pass and don't pass are roughly even. This performance places Harmony Magnet Academy in the top 50% of schools for AP tests.
It's great that Harmony Magnet Academy offers an AP program so you have the opportunity to take courses at a college level. Even though roughly half of all AP students here don't get a passing grade, half do - so with motivated studying throughout the year, you'll be able to beat the 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 Harmony Magnet Academy. 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 Harmony Magnet Academy, there is a total enrollment of 174 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).
Of AP-taking students, 105 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 44 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 27 took AP courses but took NO tests.
This is good test participation. Most AP students at Harmony Magnet Academy take the AP test for every one of their AP courses, outnumbering the students who take some or no AP exams. This is a good sign that students feel confident enough to take tests for all AP courses available to them, which reflects well on the teachers and course material. Harmony Magnet Academy can continue to improve by reducing the number of students who take AP exams for some or none of their courses, but it's in a good state.
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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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, 4 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 99 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 25 students didn't pass ANY AP exam they took.
This is acceptable performance. The majority of students at Harmony Magnet Academy pass SOME of the AP tests they take and fail some tests as well. Some students still fail all the tests they take, and some pass all tests they take.
Overall, this points to a decently strong AP program at Harmony Magnet Academy. Most students are able to pass at least one of the AP tests they take, which means the teaching has its strong points, 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 Harmony Magnet Academy may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.
If you attend Harmony Magnet Academy, 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 be motivated and put in the work.
To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Harmony Magnet Academy, 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy.
English/Language Arts
At Harmony Magnet Academy, 84% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered very good and puts Harmony Magnet Academy in the top 10% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. Most Harmony Magnet Academy students pass or exceed state standards, and many of them are likely well above average.
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 Harmony Magnet Academy, 57% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Harmony Magnet Academy in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy. 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 Harmony Magnet Academy. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.
Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Harmony Magnet Academy 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 Harmony Magnet Academy offer?
AP Courses
Harmony Magnet Academy offers AP courses in 11 subjects.
This is a reasonable number of AP subjects, putting Harmony Magnet Academy in the top 50% of California schools that offer AP courses. You'll likely have access to some of the most popular math and humanities AP subjects, as well as a few others.
The total number of AP subjects is 38, so Harmony Magnet Academy is missing a large number of subjects, including some popular ones. If there are any AP courses you want to take that aren't being offered at Harmony Magnet Academy, ask your counselor for ideas on how to cover the gap.
Of course, keep in mind that quality matters even more than quantity - even if Harmony Magnet Academy doesn't offer every AP course under the sun, the classes might still be taught very well. You can see student performance in the AP score analysis section above.
The following AP courses were offered at Harmony Magnet Academy during 2015-2016:
| Course Title |
|---|
| Biology |
| Calculus AB |
| Calculus BC |
| Chemistry |
| Computer Science A |
| English Language and Composition |
| English Literature and Composition |
| French Language and Culture |
| Physics 1: Algebra-Based |
| Statistics |
| United States History |
Sports Teams
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.
If You Liked Our Advice...
Our experts have written hundreds of useful articles on improving your ACT score and getting into college. You'll definitely find something useful here.
Visit our blog now.Subscribe to our newsletter to get FREE strategies and guides sent to your email. Learn how to ace the SAT/ACT and get into college, with exclusive tips and insights that we share with our private newsletter subscribers.
You should definitely follow us on social media. You'll get updates on our latest articles right on your feed. Follow us on all of our social networks:
Sources
The data on this page is drawn from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to):
- National Center for Educational Statistics CCD 2013-2014
- "Free or reduced price lunch: A proxy for poverty?", NCES Blog
- CRDC 2011-2012 school year data
- California Department of Education SAT, ACT, and AP Test Results
- California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System Results
- AP Course Ledger
- IBO.org