Location: Murrieta, CA
Are you a student or parent at Tenaja Canyon Academy? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Tenaja Canyon Academy available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Tenaja Canyon Academy is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Tenaja Canyon Academy students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Tenaja Canyon Academy
- Every sports team you can join at Tenaja Canyon Academy
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Tenaja Canyon Academy is a public school, supporting grades 0 to 12 . It's located in Murrieta, CA in Riverside County.
Based on its location, Tenaja Canyon Academy is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Tenaja Canyon Academy24150 Hayes Ave. Murrieta, CA 92563
Phone number: 9516961661
Tenaja Canyon Academy homepage: http://www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/tenaja
Principal: Jared RogersEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Tenaja Canyon Academy is 124 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, Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Tenaja Canyon Academy growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 10th grade | 7 | 16 | 23 |
| 11th grade | 19 | 20 | 39 |
| 12th grade | 17 | 15 | 32 |
As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 23 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Tenaja Canyon Academy is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.
There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Murrieta could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Tenaja Canyon Academy. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Tenaja Canyon Academy?
From our statistics, Tenaja Canyon Academy has a 47:53 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Tenaja Canyon Academy has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Riverside 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy are white. In California, white students make up 26.3% of all California students, and are the second most common ethnicity after Hispanic students. Thus Tenaja Canyon Academy is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 1.6% | 2 |
| Asian | 0.8% | 1 |
| Hispanic | 32.2% | 40 |
| Black | 4.8% | 6 |
| White | 55.6% | 69 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.0% | 0 |
| Two or more races | 4.8% | 6 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Murrieta. 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy Families
What are the family incomes of students at Tenaja Canyon Academy? 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy, 7.2% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 19.3% qualify for free lunches.
This means Tenaja Canyon Academy has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Tenaja Canyon Academy don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Murrieta is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 9 | 7.2% |
| Free lunches | 24 | 19.3% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 91 | 73.3% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Murrieta and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy: 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy students at risk.
In the school year of 2011-2012, there were 10 referrals to law enforcement (6 male, 4 female), and 0 school-related arrests. This is out of a total enrollment of 106 students.
To put this into perspective, most California schools (59% of them) reported 0 law enforcement referrals and arrests.
This means that 9.4 Tenaja Canyon Academy has major safety issues. For every 100 students, there were 9.4 law-enforcement related actions. This is a very high number that puts Tenaja Canyon Academy in the top 10% of schools with disciplinary actions.
With this record, is Tenaja Canyon Academy significantly different from other schools in the area? It could be that Tenaja Canyon Academy 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:
Murrieta Valley Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creekside High | 0 | 0 | 164 |
| Murrieta Valley High | 52 | 19 | 2374 |
| Vista Murrieta High | 2 | 0 | 3247 |
| Murrieta Mesa High | 27 | 17 | 2185 |
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 Tenaja Canyon Academy? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Tenaja Canyon Academy's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Tenaja Canyon Academy students. These are tests that are administered to large populations of students for comparison purposes.
State Tests
As of 2014, eleventh graders attending Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy.
English/Language Arts
At Tenaja Canyon Academy, 66% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered good and puts Tenaja Canyon Academy in the top 25% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. Most Tenaja Canyon Academy 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 Tenaja Canyon Academy, 18% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Tenaja Canyon Academy in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Tenaja Canyon Academy 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