Location: Aptos, CA
Are you a student or parent at Aptos High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Aptos High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Aptos High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Aptos High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Aptos High
- Every sports team you can join at Aptos High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Aptos High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Aptos, CA in Santa Cruz County.
Based on its location, Aptos 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:
Aptos High School100 Mariner Way Aptos, CA 95003-9641
Phone number: 8316866565
Aptos High School homepage: https://ahs-pajaro-ca.schoolloop.com/
Principal: Casey O'BrienEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Aptos High School is 1365 students, making it a large high school, in the top 25% of all California high schools by size.
Attending Aptos 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 Aptos High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Aptos 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9th grade | 211 | 174 | 385 |
| 10th grade | 181 | 163 | 344 |
| 11th grade | 155 | 170 | 325 |
| 12th grade | 157 | 154 | 311 |
As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 74 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 Aptos could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Aptos High. Alternatively, Aptos High could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Aptos High School?
From our statistics, Aptos High has a 52:48 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Aptos High has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Santa Cruz 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High are white. In California, white students make up 26.3% of all California students, and are the second most common ethnicity after Hispanic students. Thus Aptos High is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.2% | 4 |
| Asian | 4.6% | 63 |
| Hispanic | 33.4% | 457 |
| Black | 0.3% | 5 |
| White | 60.5% | 827 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.4% | 6 |
| Two or more races | 0.2% | 3 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Aptos. 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 Aptos High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Aptos 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 Aptos High, 5.0% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 28.4% qualify for free lunches.
This means Aptos High has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Aptos High don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Aptos is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 69 | 5.0% |
| Free lunches | 388 | 28.4% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 908 | 66.5% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Aptos and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Aptos High 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 Aptos High has to offer. If you work hard and spend your time effectively, you'll likely be well positioned to succeed in college and beyond.
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 Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos 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 1384 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:
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renaissance High Continuation | 0 | 0 | 187 |
| Watsonville High | 0 | 0 | 2011 |
| New School Community Day | 0 | 0 | 63 |
| Pacific Coast Charter | 0 | 0 | 251 |
| Academic/vocational Charter Institute | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Pajaro Valley High | 0 | 0 | 1481 |
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 Aptos High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High, 88% (of 294) Aptos 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%.
Aptos High is in the 64th 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High School SAT scores.
The average composite SAT score is a 1590 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 209 at Aptos High take the SAT.
This is an above-average SAT score, putting Aptos High School in the top 25% of all California high schools and well above the national average (64% of students score above the national average). This is a notable academic achievement that distinguishes Aptos High as a high-achieving school.
This is a good indication that you'll receive an above-average education at Aptos High. While your school isn't in the very top echelon of all California public schools, you're still in a great environment.
Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:
Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)
| Source | Critical Reading | Math | Writing | Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aptos High | 540 | 531 | 528 | 1590 |
| 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 1590 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1590 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1590 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 Aptos High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.
At Aptos High, the average ACT composite score was 24, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 96 out of 1365 total students take the ACT.
This is very good performance, putting Aptos High 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 Aptos High 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 Aptos High compared to California and the US:
Average ACT Scores
| Source | English | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aptos High | 24 | 25 | 25 | 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 Aptos 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 292 students in grades 9-12 at Aptos High take 587 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 Aptos High is 3.0 out of 5.
This is a solid achievement showing above average performance. The majority of students get a passing grade of 3 or above, placing them above the national average. This performance places Aptos High School in the top 25% of schools for AP tests.
Aptos High therefore has a robust AP program with classes that will help you pass the AP exam. Furthermore, a sizable number of students still earn a 4 or a 5 on their AP tests, so if you're motivated to do well, you can still get a great AP score.
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:
To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High.
English/Language Arts
At Aptos High School, 74% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered good and puts Aptos High in the top 25% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. Most Aptos High students pass or exceed state standards, though there is also a sizable portion of students who fail to meet state standards.
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 Aptos High School, 45% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Aptos High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.
Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Aptos 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 Aptos High School offer?
AP Courses
Aptos High School offers AP courses in 16 subjects.
This is an impressive number of AP subjects, putting Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos 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 Aptos High likely means you'll be in good hands.
The following AP courses were offered at Aptos High during 2015-2016:
| Course Title |
|---|
| Biology |
| Calculus AB |
| Calculus BC |
| English Language and Composition |
| English Literature and Composition |
| Environmental Science |
| European History |
| Macroeconomics |
| Physics 1: Algebra-Based |
| Seminar |
| Spanish Language and Culture |
| Statistics |
| Studio Art: 2-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 Aptos 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 Aptos High.
By the way, the Aptos High mascot is the Mariners. Go Mariners!
Aptos High School fields 15 teams for girls' sports. This is a sizable number that puts Aptos High in the top 50% of California schools that offer girls' sports. You won't get the full range of sports and levels, but you'll be able to try out for a few options. If you participate in a sport that Aptos High doesn't offer, consider looking for a local non-school team that you can join.
And now for the boys: Aptos High School fields 25 teams for boys' sports. Clearly Aptos High has a strong sports culture - Aptos High is in the top 10% of California schools that offer boys' sports. Boys will find plenty of options of sports at different levels to try out for. Because more teams usually also means more resources devoted to sports, you can also expect Aptos High sports teams to be competitive.
| Boys Teams | Girls Teams |
|---|---|
| Lacrosse
Var
JV
|
|
| Basketball
Var
JV
Fr
|
Basketball
Var
JV
Fr
|
| Golf
Var
|
Golf
Var
|
| Tennis
Var
|
Tennis
Var
|
| Football
Var
JV
Fr
|
|
| Wrestling
Var
JV
|
|
| Volleyball
Var
JV
|
Volleyball
Var
JV
Fr
|
| Baseball
Var
JV
Fr
|
|
| Softball
Var
JV
|
|
| Waterpolo
Var
JV
Fr
|
Waterpolo
Var
JV
|
| Crosscountry
Var
|
Crosscountry
Var
|
| Soccer
Var
JV
Fr
|
Soccer
Var
JV
|
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
- AP Course Ledger
- IBO.org