Waterford High School: Full Guide

Location: Waterford, CA

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

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

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

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

Based on its location, Waterford High is classified as a school in a town fringe area, or more than 10 miles from an urbanized area. Here's the location on a map:

Contact Information

Mailing address:

Waterford High School
121 S. Reinway
Waterford, CA 95386-9629

Phone number: 2098749060

Waterford High School homepage: http://www.waterford.k12.ca.us/

Principal: Ignacio Ramirez
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Waterford High School is 583 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, Waterford High 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 Waterford High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at Waterford 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	59	72	131
10th grade	89	75	164
11th grade	67	72	139
12th grade	76	72	148

As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 17 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Waterford High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.

There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Waterford could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Waterford High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Waterford High School?

From our statistics, Waterford High has a 50:50 split between male and female students in the high school grades.

Waterford High has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Stanislaus 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 Waterford 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 Waterford High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?

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

	Percentage	Number
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.8%	5
Asian	1.5%	9
Hispanic	51.6%	301
Black	0.8%	5
White	38.4%	224
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander	0.6%	4
Two or more races	6.0%	35

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

What are the family incomes of students at Waterford 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 Waterford High, 10.4% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 49.2% qualify for free lunches.

This means Waterford High has a below average level of poverty. With most students not qualifying for free or reduced price lunches, Waterford High is below average among California schools in poverty level. The income level of families in Waterford is thus likely to be relatively high.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	61	10.4%
Free lunches	287	49.2%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	235	40.3%

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

Waterford 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. Waterford 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 Waterford High doesn't cover, look to your local community for activities, or to the Internet for self-study AP classes.

School Safety

How safe is Waterford 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 Waterford 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 Waterford High students at risk.

Compare this school with other high schools in the same school district, using the following table:

Waterford Unified School District Safety

School Name	Total Referred	Total Arrests	Enrollment
Connecting Waters Charter	0	0	2065
Sentinel High	0	0	22

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 Waterford High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about Waterford High's academics here.

Standardized Testing

Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Waterford 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 Waterford High School SAT scores.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source	Critical Reading	Math	Writing	Composite
Waterford High	458	478	462	1390
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 1390 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1390 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1390 or any other SAT score!

Advanced Placement (AP)

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Waterford 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 92 students in grades 9-12 at Waterford High take 140 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.

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 Waterford 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.

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 Waterford 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.