Hayward High School: Full Guide

Location: Hayward, CA

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

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

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Hayward High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Hayward, CA in Alameda County.

Based on its location, Hayward High is classified as a school in a midsized city. Here's the location on a map:

Contact Information

Mailing address:

Hayward High School
Po Box 5000
Hayward, CA 94540-5000

Phone number: 5107233170

Hayward High School homepage: http://www.haywardhigh.net/

Principal: David Seymour
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Hayward High School is 1638 students, making it a large high school, in the top 25% of all California high schools by size.

Attending Hayward 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 Hayward High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at Hayward High has steadily increased 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	239	188	427
10^th grade	211	204	415
11^th grade	189	220	409
12^th grade	197	189	386

As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 41 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 Hayward could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Hayward High. Alternatively, Hayward High could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Hayward High School?

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

Hayward High 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?

From our statistics, Hayward High 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 Hayward High 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 Hayward High 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 Hayward High fits within this category.

	Percentage	Number
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.4%	8
Asian	9.9%	163
Hispanic	55.6%	911
Black	19.8%	325
White	8.6%	142
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander	4.0%	66
Two or more races	1.4%	23

High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Hayward. 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 Hayward High Families

What are the family incomes of students at Hayward 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 Hayward High, 8.3% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 57.7% qualify for free lunches.

This means Hayward High has a moderate percentage of students at or near poverty. About half of all schools in California show this level of poverty or greater. The income level of families in Hayward is likely to be relatively low.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	137	8.3%
Free lunches	946	57.7%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	555	33.8%

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

Hayward 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. Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High 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 1638 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:

Hayward Unified School District Safety

School Name	Total Referred	Enrollment
Brenkwitz High	0	228
Mt. Eden High	0	1900
Tennyson High	0	1273
Leadership Public Schools - Hayward	2	449
Impact Academy Of Arts & Technology	0	434
Silver Oak High Public Montessori Charter	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 Hayward High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High, 78% (of 369) Hayward 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%.

Hayward High is in the 41st percentile of all public high schools in California for graduation rate. This is below 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High School SAT scores.

The average composite SAT score is a 1320 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 232 at Hayward High take the SAT.

This is a below-average SAT score, putting Hayward High School in the bottom 50% of all California schools. Only 23% of students here score the national average or higher. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Hayward 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 Hayward 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
Hayward High	435	440	449	1320
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 1320 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1320 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1320 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 Hayward High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.

At Hayward High, the average ACT composite score was 17, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 88 out of 1637 total students take the ACT.

Unfortunately, this is well below average performance, putting Hayward High in the bottom 25% of high schools in California. Most students who take the ACT here are well below the national average.

Since the ACT tests what you learn in school, this may be a warning sign that the quality of education you'll receive at Hayward High may be lacking compared to other schools.

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

Average ACT Scores

Source	English	Math	Reading	Science
Hayward High	17	18	18	18
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 Hayward 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 277 students in grades 9-12 at Hayward High take 525 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 Hayward High is 2.2 out of 5.

Unfortunately, this score puts Hayward 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 Hayward High don't pass. This performance places Hayward High School in the bottom 50% of schools for AP tests in California.

This isn't all bad news. It's already good that Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High, there is a total enrollment of 166 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).

Of AP-taking students, 64 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 93 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 6 took AP courses but took NO tests.

This is acceptable test participation. Most AP students at Hayward High School take the AP exam for just some of their AP courses, outnumbering students who take exams for all or none of their courses. The good news here is that Hayward High students feel confident to take at least some AP tests. The question you may want to figure out is why more students don't feel confident enough to take tests for ALL their AP classes. This is something you can ask your counselor or AP teachers.

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 Hayward 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, 38 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 115 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 40 students didn't pass ANY AP exam they took.

This is acceptable performance. The majority of students at Hayward High School 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 Hayward High. 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 Hayward High may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.

If you attend Hayward 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 be motivated and put in the work.

To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High.

English/Language Arts

At Hayward High School, 46% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered below average and puts Hayward High in the bottom 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The majority of Hayward High students do not pass state standards, and only a small percentage pass.

This specific percentage isn't much cause for concern - because the Common Core is new, the pass rate at Hayward High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects Hayward High's below average standing 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 Hayward High School, 16% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Hayward High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward 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 Hayward High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.

Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Hayward 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 Hayward High School offer?

AP Courses

Hayward High School offers AP courses in 10 subjects.

This is a reasonable number of AP subjects, putting Hayward High School 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 Hayward High 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 Hayward High, 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 Hayward High 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 Hayward High during 2015-2016:

Course Title
Biology
Calculus AB
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Macroeconomics
Spanish Language and Culture
Statistics
United States Government and Politics
United States History
World History

Sports Teams

Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at Hayward 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 Hayward High.

By the way, the Hayward High mascot is the Farmers. Go Farmers!

Hayward High School fields 10 teams for girls' sports. This is a relatively number that puts Hayward High in the bottom 50% of California schools that offer girls' sports. This is understandable - sports teams are expensive to support, and many schools would rather put those resources elsewhere. If you participate in a sport that Hayward High doesn't offer, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.

And now for the boys: Hayward High School fields 13 teams for boys' sports. This relatively number puts Hayward High in the bottom 50% of California schools that offer boys' sports. Sports teams are expensive to support, and Hayward High may not be able to offer the full range of options. If you participate in a sport that Hayward High doesn't offer, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.

Boys Teams	Girls Teams
Basketball Var JV Fr	Basketball Var JV Fr
	Tennis Var JV Fr
Football Var JV Fr
Wrestling Var JV Fr
	Volleyball Var JV Fr
Baseball Var JV Fr
	Softball Var JV Fr
Trackfield Var JV Fr
Soccer Var JV Fr	Soccer 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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