Location: Visalia, CA
Are you a student or parent at Valley Life Charter School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Valley Life Charter available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Valley Life Charter is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Valley Life Charter students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Valley Life Charter
- Every sports team you can join at Valley Life Charter
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Valley Life Charter School is a public school, supporting grades 0 to 12 . It's located in Visalia, CA in Tulare County.
Based on its location, Valley Life Charter is classified as a school in a midsized city. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Valley Life Charter School3737 W. Walnut Ave. Visalia, CA 93277-3947
Phone number: 5596258527
Valley Life Charter School homepage: http://www.vlcs.org/
Principal: Lori LackeyEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Valley Life Charter School is 572 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, Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Valley Life Charter 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 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 10th grade | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 11th grade | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 12th grade | 1 | 2 | 3 |
As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 3 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 Visalia could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Valley Life Charter. Alternatively, Valley Life Charter could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Valley Life Charter School?
From our statistics, Valley Life Charter has a 47:53 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 2.2% | 13 |
| Asian | 2.2% | 13 |
| Hispanic | 41.7% | 239 |
| Black | 2.9% | 17 |
| White | 50.3% | 288 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.1% | 1 |
| Two or more races | 0.1% | 1 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Visalia. 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 Valley Life Charter Families
What are the family incomes of students at Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter, 10.8% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 20.4% qualify for free lunches.
This means Valley Life Charter has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Valley Life Charter don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Visalia is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 62 | 10.8% |
| Free lunches | 117 | 20.4% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 393 | 68.7% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Visalia and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter has to offer. If you work hard and spend your time effectively, you'll likely be well positioned to succeed in college and beyond.
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School Safety
How safe is Valley Life Charter 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 Valley Life Charter: 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 Valley Life Charter 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 353 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:
Tulare County Office Of Education School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Sierra High | 133 | 0 | 3310 |
| Tulare County Court | 0 | 0 | 174 |
| Special Education | 0 | 0 | 203 |
| Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center | 0 | 0 | 210 |
| Tulare County Community | 2 | 2 | 139 |
| University Preparatory High | 2 | 0 | 195 |
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
- IBO.org