Deer Valley High School: Full Guide

Location: Antioch, CA

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

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

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Deer Valley High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Antioch, CA in Contra Costa County.

Based on its location, Deer Valley High is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:


Contact Information

Mailing address:

Deer Valley High School
4700 Lone Tree Way
Antioch, CA 94531-8486

Phone number: 9257765555

Deer Valley High School homepage: http://dvhs-antioch-ca.schoolloop.com/

Principal: Kenneth Gardner
Email the principal: [email protected]


Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Deer Valley High School is 2622 students, making it a very large high school, in the top 10% of all California high schools by size.

Wow! Attending Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High, which may require being proactive.


Growth in Student Body Size

Is Deer Valley High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at Deer Valley 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 298 319 617
10th grade 347 363 710
11th grade 335 356 691
12th grade 318 286 604

As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 13 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 Antioch could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Deer Valley High. Alternatively, Deer Valley High could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.


Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Deer Valley High School?

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

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

From our statistics, Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High is black. In California, black students make up 6.6% of total enrollment, but it's rare for a school to be predominantly black. Deer Valley High is one of a few dozen schools that are predominantly black.

Percentage Number
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.6% 18
Asian 13.6% 357
Hispanic 27.8% 730
Black 32.6% 856
White 18.4% 483
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander 0.9% 25
Two or more races 5.8% 153

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

What are the family incomes of students at Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High, 9.3% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 38.6% qualify for free lunches.

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

Number Percent
Reduced-price lunches 246 9.3%
Free lunches 1014 38.6%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches 1362 51.9%

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

Deer Valley 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. Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High students at risk.

In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 6 referrals to law enforcement (4 male, 2 female), and 4 school-related arrests (4 males, 0 females). This is out of a total enrollment of 2725 students.

To put this into perspective, most California schools (59% of them) reported 0 law enforcement referrals and arrests.

This means that 0.3 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High School significantly different from other schools in the area? It could be that Deer Valley 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:

Antioch Unified School District Safety

School Name Total Referred Total Arrests Enrollment
Antioch High 4 2 1945
Live Oak High (continuation) 4 4 186
Bridges 0 0 28
Prospects High (alternative) 0 0 560
Bidwell Continuation High 0 0 217
Dozier-libbey Medical High 0 0 625

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

We've compiled everything we could find about Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High, 87% (of 674) Deer Valley 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%.

Deer Valley High is in the 61st 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High School SAT scores.

The average composite SAT score is a 1430 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 357 at Deer Valley High take the SAT.

This is a below-average SAT score, putting Deer Valley High School in the bottom 50% of all California schools. Only 38% of students here score the national average or higher. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Deer Valley High may offer a somewhat lacking high school education, compared to schools with higher SAT averages.

Note, however, that an average is just an average - top performers will still be able to impress. If you work hard and get an SAT score well above Deer Valley High's average, you'll have a great shot at entering a good college.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source Critical Reading Math Writing Composite
Deer Valley High 487 482 470 1430
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 1430 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1430 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1430 or any other SAT score!

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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 Deer Valley High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.

At Deer Valley High, the average ACT composite score was 21, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 96 out of 2622 total students take the ACT.

This is above average performance, putting Deer Valley High in the top 50% of California high schools. Since the ACT tests what you learn in school, these ACT scores are a good indication that you'll get an above-average education at Deer Valley High.

Here are the average English, Math, Reading, and Science scores for Deer Valley High compared to California and the US:

Average ACT Scores

Source English Math Reading Science
Deer Valley High 20 21 22 21
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!

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Advanced Placement (AP)

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Deer Valley 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 362 students in grades 9-12 at Deer Valley High take 646 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 Deer Valley High is 2.5 out of 5.

Unfortunately, this score puts Deer Valley High at below average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the majority of students who take AP tests at Deer Valley High don't pass. This performance places Deer Valley High School in the bottom 50% of schools for AP tests in California.

This isn't all bad news. It's already good that Deer Valley High offers an AP program, so you can start dipping your toes into college-level courses. Some schools are new to offering AP courses, and teachers often get better at preparing students for AP tests. Furthermore, a good number of students still earn a passing grade of 3 or above. With hard work throughout the year, you'll still be able to beat your school's average.

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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High, there is a total enrollment of 804 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).

Of AP-taking students, 227 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 54 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 170 took AP courses but took NO tests.


This is good test participation. Most AP students at Deer Valley 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. Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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, 101 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 43 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 137 students didn't pass ANY AP exam they took.

 

This is good performance. The majority of students pass SOME or ALL of the AP tests. Only a minority of students at Deer Valley High School fail all the AP exams they take.

Overall, this points to a fairly strong AP program at Deer Valley High. Most students are able to pass at least one of the AP tests they take, which means the teaching is likely of acceptable quality, and the students are motivated to do well. However, the program isn't strong across the board. Some teachers or courses may be better than others, and students at Deer Valley High may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.

If you attend Deer Valley High, this means you'll have a good starting point to work from - but if you want to pass all the AP tests you take, you'll need to work hard and use good study strategies.

To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High.

English/Language Arts

At Deer Valley High School, 45% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered below average and puts Deer Valley High in the bottom 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The majority of Deer Valley High students do not pass state standards, and only a small percentage pass.

This specific percentage isn't much cause for concern - because the Common Core is new, the pass rate at Deer Valley High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects Deer Valley High's below average 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 Deer Valley High School, 18% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Deer Valley High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.

Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High School offer?

AP Courses

Deer Valley High School offers AP courses in 16 subjects.

This is an impressive number of AP subjects, putting Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High likely means you'll be in good hands.

The following AP courses were offered at Deer Valley High during 2015-2016:

Course Title
Biology
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Chemistry
Computer Science A
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
Music Theory
Physics 1: Algebra-Based
Psychology
Statistics
United States Government and Politics
United States History
World History

Sports Teams

Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High.

By the way, the Deer Valley High mascot is the Wolverines. Go Wolverines!

Deer Valley High School fields 13 teams for girls' sports. This is a sizable number that puts Deer Valley 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 Deer Valley High doesn't offer, consider looking for a local non-school team that you can join.

And now for the boys: Deer Valley High School fields 20 teams for boys' sports. This puts Deer Valley High in the top 50% of California schools that offer boys' sports. You won't get every sport and level possible here, but you'll have a decent number of options. If you participate in a sport that Deer Valley High doesn't offer, consider looking for a local non-school team that you can join.

Boys Teams Girls Teams
Basketball
Var JV Fr
Basketball
Var JV Fr
Golf
Var JV Fr
Golf
Var JV Fr
Tennis
Var JV Fr
Tennis
Var JV Fr
Football
Var JV Fr
Wrestling
Var JV Fr
Volleyball
Var JV Fr
Volleyball
Var JV Fr
Baseball
Var JV Fr
Softball
Var JV Fr
Waterpolo
Var JV Fr
Waterpolo
Var JV Fr
Crosscountry
Var JV Fr
Crosscountry
Var JV Fr
Soccer
Var JV Fr
Soccer
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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Sources

The data on this page is drawn from a variety of sources, including (but not limited to):