Location: Santa Paula, CA
Are you a student or parent at Renaissance High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Renaissance High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Renaissance High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Renaissance High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Renaissance High
- Every sports team you can join at Renaissance High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Renaissance High School is a public magnet school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Santa Paula, CA in Ventura County.
Based on its location, Renaissance 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:
Renaissance High School333 N. Palm Ave. Santa Paula, CA 93060
Phone number: 8055254407
Renaissance High School homepage: http://www.spuhsd.k12.ca.us/Domain/179
Principal: Robin GilletteEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Renaissance High School is 128 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, Renaissance 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 Renaissance High lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Renaissance High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Renaissance High has steadily 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th grade | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 11th grade | 23 | 15 | 38 |
| 12th grade | 56 | 30 | 86 |
As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 86 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Renaissance High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.
There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Santa Paula could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Renaissance High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Renaissance High School?
From our statistics, Renaissance High has a 65:35 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
There is a large male majority at Renaissance High, and much more than you would expect from the general population in Ventura 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 Renaissance 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 Renaissance High.
If the male majority is concerning to you, we suggest contacting Renaissance High administration and asking if they have any thoughts about why there's a gender imbalance. Their phone number is 8055254407.
Ethnicity Breakdown
What's the racial diversity at Renaissance High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Renaissance 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 Renaissance High does. When attending class, you'll be surrounded by students of the same ethnicity.
The majority of students at Renaissance 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 Renaissance High fits within this category.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.0% | 0 |
| Asian | 0.0% | 0 |
| Hispanic | 97.6% | 125 |
| Black | 0.7% | 1 |
| White | 1.5% | 2 |
| 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 Santa Paula. 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 Renaissance High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Renaissance 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 Renaissance High, 0.0% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 97.6% qualify for free lunches.
This means Renaissance High has a high percentage of students at or near poverty. Almost a third of all schools in California show this level of poverty, and by National Center for Education Statistics standards, Renaissance High can be classified as a high poverty school. The income level of families in Santa Paula is thus likely to be low.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 0 | 0.0% |
| Free lunches | 125 | 97.6% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 3 | 2.3% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Santa Paula and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Unfortunately, schools in areas of lower income levels are likely to be more poorly funded. As a result, they might feature less advanced coursework like AP/IB classes, and you may not have a full range of sports and extracurriculars to draw from. Because Renaissance High is an especially high poverty-level school, it might not have the resources you need to meet your full potential.
You definitely don't have control over the city, the school, or other families, but you can structure your own learning to be more productive. If you'd like to open yourself to more opportunities, you can look into whether it's possible to transfer to a nearby school with higher income levels.
If not, don't be alarmed - it's possible that Renaissance High has all that you need for your ambition. And you can definitely be proactive about learning outside of your school, looking to your community or to the Internet to find more resources.
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School Safety
How safe is Renaissance 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 Renaissance 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 Renaissance High students at risk.
In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 2 referrals to law enforcement (2 male, 0 female), and 0 school-related arrests. This is out of a total enrollment of 118 students.
To put this into perspective, most California schools (59% of them) reported 0 law enforcement referrals and arrests.
This means that 1.6 Renaissance High has minor safety issues. For every 100 students, there were just 1.6 law-enforcement related actions, but this is still higher than 75% of California schools.
With this record, is Renaissance High School significantly different from other schools in the area? It could be that Renaissance 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:
Santa Paula Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Paula High | 2 | 2 | 1476 |
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 Renaissance High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Renaissance High's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Renaissance High School students. These are tests that are administered to large populations of students for comparison purposes.
State Tests
As of 2014, eleventh graders attending Renaissance 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 Renaissance 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 Renaissance High.
English/Language Arts
At Renaissance High School, 6% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered well below average and puts Renaissance High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The vast majority of Renaissance 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 Renaissance High will likely increase. But it still reflects Renaissance 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 Renaissance High School, 0% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Renaissance High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Renaissance 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
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
- California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System Results
- IBO.org