Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School: Full Guide

Location: Sacramento, CA

Are you a student or parent at Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?

We've written the best guide to NP3 High School available. Here we'll cover:

Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
How safe NP3 High School is to attend
SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by NP3 High School students
Which AP/IB classes you can take at NP3 High School
Every sports team you can join at NP3 High School

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Sacramento, CA in Sacramento County.

Based on its location, NP3 High School is classified as a school in a large city. Here's the location on a map:

Contact Information

Mailing address:

Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School
3700 Del Paso Rd.
Sacramento, CA 95834

Phone number: 9165675740

Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School homepage: https://natomasunified.org/

Principal: Tom Rutten
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School is 542 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, NP3 High School 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at NP3 High School has increased 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	69	81	150
10^th grade	94	69	163
11^th grade	72	67	139
12^th grade	41	49	90

As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 60 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 Sacramento could be growing in population, thus sending more students into NP3 High School. Alternatively, NP3 High School could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School?

From our statistics, NP3 High School has a 51:49 split between male and female students in the high school grades.

NP3 High School has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Sacramento 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 NP3 High School 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?

From our statistics, NP3 High School 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 NP3 High School is Asian. Across all of California, Asian students make up 11.5% of enrollment, but it's rare for a school to be predominantly Asian. Thus NP3 High School is notable for having a particularly strong Asian presence.

	Percentage	Number
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.0%	0
Asian	31.1%	169
Hispanic	23.4%	127
Black	15.4%	84
White	24.3%	132
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander	0.9%	5
Two or more races	4.6%	25

High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Sacramento. 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 NP3 High School Families

What are the family incomes of students at Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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 NP3 High School, 11.0% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 21.9% qualify for free lunches.

This means NP3 High School has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at NP3 High School don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Sacramento is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	60	11.0%
Free lunches	119	21.9%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	363	66.9%

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

Because NP3 High School 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 NP3 High School 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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 NP3 High School: 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 NP3 High School 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 481 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:

Natomas Unified School District Safety

School Name	Total Referred	Enrollment
Natomas High	0	1234
Discovery High	6	149
Natomas Charter	0	1366
Inderkum High	0	1504
Leroy Greene Academy	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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about NP3 High School's academics here.

Standardized Testing

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

The average composite SAT score is a 1470 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 98 at NP3 High School take the SAT.

This is an average SAT score, putting Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School right around the national average. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that NP3 High School will offer a fairly standard high school education, neither strongly lacking or outperforming.

Note, however, that this is just an average - the top students can still exceed the average significantly. If you can rise far above your school average, you'll have a great shot at entering a strong college.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source	Critical Reading	Math	Writing	Composite
NP3 High School	493	490	487	1470
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 1470 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1470 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1470 or any other SAT score!

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Advanced Placement (AP)

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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 136 students in grades 9-12 at NP3 High School take 286 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 NP3 High School is 2.2 out of 5.

Unfortunately, this score puts NP3 High School at below average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the majority of students who take AP tests at NP3 High School don't pass. This performance places Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School in the bottom 50% of schools for AP tests in California.

This isn't all bad news. It's already good that NP3 High School 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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 NP3 High School, there is a total enrollment of 80 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).

Of AP-taking students, 80 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 10 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 8 took AP courses but took NO tests.

This is good test participation. Most AP students at Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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. NP3 High School 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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, 42 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 22 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 62 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School fail all the AP exams they take.

Overall, this points to a fairly strong AP program at NP3 High School. 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 NP3 High School may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.

If you attend NP3 High School, 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter 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 NP3 High School 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 NP3 High School.

English/Language Arts

At Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School, 66% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered good and puts NP3 High School in the top 25% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. Most NP3 High School students pass or exceed state standards, though there is also a sizable portion of students who fail to meet state standards.

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 Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School, 28% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts NP3 High School in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of NP3 High School 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

What’s Next?

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