Location: Glendora, CA
Are you a student or parent at Sierra High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Sierra High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Sierra High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Sierra High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Sierra High
- Every sports team you can join at Sierra High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Sierra High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Glendora, CA in Los Angeles County.
Based on its location, Sierra High is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Sierra High SchoolPo Box 500 Azusa, CA 91702-0500
Phone number: 6268528300
Sierra High School homepage: https://shs-ausd-ca.schoolloop.com/
Principal: Mari BordonaEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Sierra High School is 216 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, Sierra High 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 Sierra High lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Sierra High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Sierra 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9th grade | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th grade | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11th grade | 64 | 45 | 109 |
| 12th grade | 59 | 48 | 107 |
As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 107 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Sierra High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.
There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Glendora could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Sierra High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Sierra High School?
From our statistics, Sierra High has a 57:43 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
There is a large male majority at Sierra High, and much more than you would expect from the general population in Los Angeles County. As a result, it'll feel like there are a lot more girls than boys in your classes.
Sometimes this imbalance can result from random chance and may not suggest anything about Sierra High. In other cases, the school might preferentially select for males. For example, in our data we find that continuation high schools unfortunately seem to be male-dominated. In yet other cases, other neighboring schools might attract female students, drawing them away from Sierra High.
If the male majority is concerning to you, we suggest contacting Sierra High administration and asking if they have any thoughts about why there's a gender imbalance. Their phone number is 6268528300.
Ethnicity Breakdown
What's the racial diversity at Sierra High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Sierra High has a very homogenous student body, with over 90% of students identifying as one ethnicity. This is especially extreme - fewer than 10% of California schools show as little racial diversity as Sierra High does. When attending class, you'll be surrounded by students of the same ethnicity.
The majority of students at Sierra 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 Sierra High fits within this category.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.0% | 0 |
| Asian | 0.4% | 1 |
| Hispanic | 97.2% | 210 |
| Black | 0.4% | 1 |
| White | 1.8% | 4 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.0% | 0 |
| Two or more races | 0.0% | 0 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Glendora. 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 Sierra High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Sierra 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 Sierra High, 8.3% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 68.5% qualify for free lunches.
This means Sierra High has a high percentage of students at or near poverty. Almost a third of all schools in California show this level of poverty, and by National Center for Education Statistics standards, Sierra High can be classified as a high poverty school. The income level of families in Glendora is thus likely to be low.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 18 | 8.3% |
| Free lunches | 148 | 68.5% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 50 | 23.1% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Glendora and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Unfortunately, schools in areas of lower income levels are likely to be more poorly funded. As a result, they might feature less advanced coursework like AP/IB classes, and you may not have a full range of sports and extracurriculars to draw from. Because Sierra High is an especially high poverty-level school, it might not have the resources you need to meet your full potential.
You definitely don't have control over the city, the school, or other families, but you can structure your own learning to be more productive. If you'd like to open yourself to more opportunities, you can look into whether it's possible to transfer to a nearby school with higher income levels.
If not, don't be alarmed - it's possible that Sierra High has all that you need for your ambition. And you can definitely be proactive about learning outside of your school, looking to your community or to the Internet to find more resources.
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 Sierra 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 Sierra 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 Sierra High students at risk.
In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 32 referrals to law enforcement (24 male, 8 female), and 32 school-related arrests (24 males, 8 females). This is out of a total enrollment of 300 students.
To put this into perspective, most California schools (59% of them) reported 0 law enforcement referrals and arrests.
This means that 21.3 Sierra High has major safety issues. For every 100 students, there were 21.3 law-enforcement related actions. This is a very high number that puts Sierra High in the top 10% of schools with disciplinary actions.
With this record, is Sierra High School significantly different from other schools in the area? It could be that Sierra 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:
Azusa Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azusa High | 36 | 36 | 1367 |
| Gladstone High | 6 | 6 | 1426 |
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 Sierra High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Sierra 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 Sierra 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 Sierra High, 87% Sierra 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%.
Sierra High is in the 61st 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 Sierra High School students. These are tests that are administered to large populations of students for comparison purposes.
State Tests
As of 2014, eleventh graders attending Sierra 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 Sierra 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 Sierra High.
English/Language Arts
At Sierra High School, 11% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered well below average and puts Sierra High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The vast majority of Sierra High students don't meet state standards, and only a small percentage pass.
This low percentage itself isn't much cause for concern - as teachers and students get more familiar with the new Common Core, the pass rate at Sierra High will likely increase. But it still reflects Sierra High's low 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 Sierra High School, 0% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Sierra High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Sierra 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.
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.
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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
- IBO.org