Location: Rolling Hills Estates, CA
Are you a student or parent at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Palos Verdes Peninsula High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Palos Verdes Peninsula High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Palos Verdes Peninsula High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Palos Verdes Peninsula High
- Every sports team you can join at Palos Verdes Peninsula High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Rolling Hills Estates, CA in Los Angeles County.
Based on its location, Palos Verdes Peninsula High is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School27118 Silver Spur Rd. Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274-2300
Phone number: 3103774888
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School homepage: http://www.pvphs.com/
Principal: Mitzi CressEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School is 2580 students, making it a very large high school, in the top 10% of all California high schools by size.
Wow! Attending Palos Verdes Peninsula High might feel like attending a college. You'll be surrounded by a large group of students (over 500 per class) and have more options for activities and clubs to join, which can be exciting.
On the other hand, you may also find that resources like counseling are spread thin across so many students. Make sure that you can get enough teacher and counselor attention to succeed at Palos Verdes Peninsula High, which may require being proactive.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Palos Verdes Peninsula High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Palos Verdes Peninsula High 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 | 331 | 336 | 667 |
| 10th grade | 303 | 325 | 628 |
| 11th grade | 338 | 329 | 667 |
| 12th grade | 300 | 318 | 618 |
As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 49 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 Rolling Hills Estates could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Palos Verdes Peninsula High. Alternatively, Palos Verdes Peninsula High could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School?
From our statistics, Palos Verdes Peninsula High has a 50:50 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Los Angeles 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High is white. In California, white students make up 26.3% of all California students, and are the second most common ethnicity after Hispanic students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.1% | 3 |
| Asian | 37.7% | 974 |
| Hispanic | 7.2% | 188 |
| Black | 3.5% | 92 |
| White | 49.1% | 1269 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.2% | 7 |
| Two or more races | 1.8% | 47 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Rolling Hills Estates. 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High, 0.8% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 2.3% qualify for free lunches.
This means Palos Verdes Peninsula High has a very low poverty level. Nearly no students at Palos Verdes Peninsula High qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Rolling Hills Estates is thus likely to have a very affluent community, and Palos Verdes Peninsula High is in the top 10% of California schools in terms of family income.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 22 | 0.8% |
| Free lunches | 61 | 2.3% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 2497 | 96.7% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Rolling Hills Estates and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High students at risk.
In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 4 referrals to law enforcement (4 male, 0 female), and 0 school-related arrests. This is out of a total enrollment of 2539 students.
To put this into perspective, most California schools (59% of them) reported 0 law enforcement referrals and arrests.
This means that 0.1 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School significantly different from other schools in the area? It could be that Palos Verdes Peninsula 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:
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Del Mar High (continuation) | 0 | 0 | 80 |
| Palos Verdes High | 5 | 0 | 1690 |
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Palos Verdes Peninsula High's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School SAT scores.
The average composite SAT score is a 1820 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 722 at Palos Verdes Peninsula High take the SAT.
This is an extremely high average SAT score, putting Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in the elite top 2% of all California high schools. The average student at Palos Verdes Peninsula High is already scoring in the 80th percentile nationwide or higher - indeed, 85% of students score above the national average. This means that the top students are likely scoring well in the top percentiles, and some may even be getting perfect scores every year.
Because you're surrounded by very talented students, this is a good sign that you'll receive a top-of-the-line education at Palos Verdes Peninsula High. By following the trend at your school, you'll have a very strong chance at getting into some of the best colleges in the country.
Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:
Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)
| Source | Critical Reading | Math | Writing | Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Verdes Peninsula High | 583 | 634 | 603 | 1820 |
| 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 1820 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1820 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1820 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.
At Palos Verdes Peninsula High, the average ACT composite score was 27, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 256 out of 2580 total students take the ACT.
This is excellent performance, putting Palos Verdes Peninsula High in the top 5% of high schools in California by ACT score. Most students who take the ACT here are scoring well above average and in the top tier of the nation.
Since the ACT is meant to gauge what you learn in school, very high average ACT scores are a good indication that you'll get a high-quality education at Palos Verdes Peninsula High and be surrounded by other high-achieving students.
Here are the average English, Math, Reading, and Science scores for Palos Verdes Peninsula High compared to California and the US:
Average ACT Scores
| Source | English | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Verdes Peninsula High | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 |
| 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 1088 students in grades 9-12 at Palos Verdes Peninsula High take 2511 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High is 3.7 out of 5.
This is a great achievement showing well above average performance. Most students get AP scores of a 4 or a 5, placing them above the national average of a 3. This high academic achievement places Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in the top 10% of schools for AP tests.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High therefore has a strong AP program, with high quality classes that will prepare students well for AP exams. There is still a sizable number of students who earn a 3 or below, but if you're a motivated and resourceful student, you'll be able to be one of the top performers.
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High, there is a total enrollment of 1037 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).
Of AP-taking students, 1001 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 2 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 13 took AP courses but took NO tests.
This is good test participation. Most AP students at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School 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. Palos Verdes Peninsula High 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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, 678 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 172 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 139 students didn't pass ANY AP exam they took.
This is very strong performance. The majority of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School students pass ALL the AP tests they take - an impressive feat, especially if students take multiple AP exams each year!
Overall, this points to a strong AP program at Palos Verdes Peninsula High: across all AP course offerings, teachers are able to prepare students well for the exam. There are still some students who fail some or all of their exams, but this is a good starting point to improve from. You'll have a strong foundation to learn from throughout high school.
To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High.
English/Language Arts
At Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, 85% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered excellent and puts Palos Verdes Peninsula High in the top 5% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The vast majority of Palos Verdes Peninsula High students easily meet state standards, and many of them are likely well above average. Students here are very well prepared academically.
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, 73% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Palos Verdes Peninsula High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.
Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School offer?
AP Courses
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School offers AP courses in 31 subjects.
This is a huge number of AP subjects, putting Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in the top 5% of California schools in AP offerings. You'll be able to choose from the most popular AP courses as well as your pick of broader interests.
The total number of AP subjects is 38, so Palos Verdes Peninsula High is missing some subjects, but these are likely the least popular subjects, like some foreign languages and the new AP Research and Seminar courses. If there are any AP courses you want to take that aren't being offered at Palos Verdes Peninsula High, ask your counselor for other options.
Of course, keep in mind that quantity doesn't automatically mean quality - it's important that the courses are taught well by effective teachers. But the strong AP program at Palos Verdes Peninsula High likely means the classes are of high quality.
The following AP courses were offered at Palos Verdes Peninsula High during 2015-2016:
| Course Title |
|---|
| Art History |
| Biology |
| Calculus AB |
| Calculus BC |
| Chemistry |
| Chinese Language and Culture |
| Computer Science A |
| English Language and Composition |
| English Literature and Composition |
| Environmental Science |
| European History |
| French Language and Culture |
| Japanese Language and Culture |
| Latin |
| Macroeconomics |
| Microeconomics |
| Music Theory |
| Physics 1: Algebra-Based |
| Physics 2: Algebra-Based |
| Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism |
| Physics C: Mechanics |
| Psychology |
| Spanish Language and Culture |
| Spanish Literature and Culture |
| Statistics |
| Studio Art: 2-D Design |
| Studio Art: 3-D Design |
| Studio Art: Drawing |
| United States Government and Politics |
| United States History |
| World 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.
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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