Aurora (Continuation) High School: Full Guide

Location: Calexico, CA

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

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

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Aurora (Continuation) High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Calexico, CA in Imperial County.

Based on its location, Aurora Continuation High is classified as a school in a midsize suburb. Here's the location on a map:

Contact Information

Mailing address:

Aurora (Continuation) High School
Po Box 792
Calexico, CA 92231-2700

Phone number: 7607683940

Aurora (Continuation) High School homepage: http://www.calexico.k12.ca.us/aurora

Principal: John Moreno
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Aurora (Continuation) High School is 203 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, Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.

Growth in Student Body Size

Is Aurora (Continuation) High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at Aurora Continuation 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
9^th grade	2	0	2
10^th grade	14	3	17
11^th grade	72	29	101
12^th grade	49	34	83

As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 81 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Aurora Continuation High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.

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

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Aurora (Continuation) High School?

From our statistics, Aurora Continuation High has a 68:32 split between male and female students in the high school grades.

There is a large male majority at Aurora Continuation High, and much more than you would expect from the general population in Imperial 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 Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High.

If the male majority is concerning to you, we suggest contacting Aurora Continuation High administration and asking if they have any thoughts about why there's a gender imbalance. Their phone number is 7607683940.

Ethnicity Breakdown

What's the racial diversity at Aurora (Continuation) High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?

From our statistics, Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High does. When attending class, you'll be surrounded by students of the same ethnicity.

The majority of students at Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High fits within this category.

	Percentage	Number
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.0%	0
Asian	0.0%	0
Hispanic	98.5%	200
Black	0.0%	0
White	1.4%	3
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 Calexico. 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 Aurora Continuation High Families

What are the family incomes of students at Aurora (Continuation) 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 Aurora Continuation High, 6.8% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 65.5% qualify for free lunches.

This means Aurora Continuation High has a moderate percentage of students at or near poverty. About half of all schools in California show this level of poverty or greater. The income level of families in Calexico is likely to be relatively low.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	14	6.8%
Free lunches	133	65.5%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	56	27.5%

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

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

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School Safety

How safe is Aurora (Continuation) 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 Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation 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 207 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:

Calexico Unified School District Safety

School Name	Total Referred	Total Arrests	Enrollment
Calexico High	0	0	2166
De Anza 9th Grade Academy	0	0	0
William Moreno Junior High	0	0	0
Enrique Camarena Jr. High	0	0	0

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 Aurora (Continuation) High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High, 81% Aurora Continuation 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%.

Aurora Continuation High is in the 45th percentile of all public high schools in California for graduation rate. This is below 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 Aurora (Continuation) 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.

Advanced Placement (AP)

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Aurora (Continuation) 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 1 students in grades 9-12 at Aurora Continuation High take 0 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 Aurora Continuation High is out of 5.

Compared to schools across California, this score puts Aurora Continuation High at below average performance. On AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and unfortunately the number of students who don't pass is greater than the number of do. This performance places Aurora (Continuation) High School in the bottom 25 % of schools for AP tests.

This isn't all bad news for you, though. It's still good that Aurora Continuation High offers AP classes so you have the opportunity to take courses at a college level. Your school might be new to offering AP courses, and typically teachers get better at preparing students for AP tests over time. Finally, as you'll see below, there are still students who earn a passing grade of 3 or above - and with hard work, you can be one of them.

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 Aurora (Continuation) 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 Aurora (Continuation) 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 Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High.

English/Language Arts

At Aurora (Continuation) High School, 6% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered well below average and puts Aurora Continuation High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The vast majority of Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora Continuation High will likely increase. But it still reflects Aurora Continuation 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 Aurora (Continuation) High School, 0% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Aurora Continuation High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Aurora Continuation 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

Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at Aurora (Continuation) 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 Aurora Continuation High.

By the way, the Aurora High (continuation) mascot is the Eagles. Go Eagles!

Aurora (Continuation) High School fields 1 teams for girls' sports. This is a low number that puts Aurora Continuation High in the bottom 25% of California schools that offer girls' sports. This is understandable - sports teams are expensive to support, and many schools would rather support other programs with their limited resources. If you play a sport that Aurora Continuation High doesn't field a team for, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.

And now for the boys: Aurora (Continuation) High School fields 1 teams for boys' sports. This low number puts Aurora Continuation High in the bottom 25% of California schools that offer boys' sports. If you play a sport that Aurora Continuation High doesn't field a team for, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.

Boys Teams	Girls Teams
Baseball Var JV Fr
	Softball Var JV Fr

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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