Location: Apple Valley, CA
Are you a student or parent at Academy for Academic Excellence? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Academy for Academic Excellence available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Academy for Academic Excellence is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Academy for Academic Excellence students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Academy for Academic Excellence
- Every sports team you can join at Academy for Academic Excellence
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Academy for Academic Excellence is a public school, supporting grades 0 to 12 . It's located in Apple Valley, CA in San Bernardino County.
Based on its location, Academy for Academic Excellence is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Academy for Academic Excellence17500 Mana Rd. Apple Valley, CA 92307-2181
Phone number: 7609465414
Academy for Academic Excellence homepage: http://www.lewiscenter.org/AAE/
Principal: Gordon SoholtEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Academy for Academic Excellence is 1364 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, Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Academy for Academic Excellence 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 | 54 | 51 | 105 |
| 10th grade | 53 | 54 | 107 |
| 11th grade | 51 | 58 | 109 |
| 12th grade | 55 | 36 | 91 |
As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 14 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 Apple Valley could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Academy for Academic Excellence. Alternatively, Academy for Academic Excellence could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Academy for Academic Excellence?
From our statistics, Academy for Academic Excellence has a 52:48 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Academy for Academic Excellence has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in San Bernardino 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.2% | 4 |
| Asian | 6.0% | 83 |
| Hispanic | 29.2% | 399 |
| Black | 3.9% | 54 |
| White | 52.8% | 721 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.1% | 2 |
| Two or more races | 7.4% | 101 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Apple Valley. 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 Academy for Academic Excellence Families
What are the family incomes of students at Academy for Academic Excellence? 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 Academy for Academic Excellence, 4.4% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 14.5% qualify for free lunches.
This means Academy for Academic Excellence has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Academy for Academic Excellence don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Apple Valley is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 61 | 4.4% |
| Free lunches | 199 | 14.5% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 1104 | 80.9% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Apple Valley and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence has to offer. If you work hard and spend your time effectively, you'll likely be well positioned to succeed in college and beyond.
Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
School Safety
How safe is Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence: 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 1369 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:
Apple Valley Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granite Hills High | 0 | 4 | 1867 |
| High Desert Premier Academy | 0 | 2 | 517 |
| Apple Valley High | 0 | 0 | 2113 |
| Willow Park High | 0 | 0 | 55 |
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 Academy for Academic Excellence? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Academy for Academic Excellence's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence SAT scores.
The average composite SAT score is a 1540 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 71 at Academy for Academic Excellence take the SAT.
This is an average SAT score, putting Academy for Academic Excellence right around the national average. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Academy for Academic Excellence 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy for Academic Excellence | 528 | 510 | 508 | 1540 |
| 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 1540 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1540 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1540 or any other SAT score!
Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
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 Academy for Academic Excellence ACT scores with the rest of the country.
At Academy for Academic Excellence, the average ACT composite score was 22, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 25 out of 412 total students take the ACT.
This is above average performance, putting Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence.
Here are the average English, Math, Reading, and Science scores for Academy for Academic Excellence compared to California and the US:
Average ACT Scores
| Source | English | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy for Academic Excellence | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 |
| 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!
Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
Advanced Placement (AP)
Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Academy for Academic Excellence 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 65 students in grades 9-12 at Academy for Academic Excellence take 119 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 Academy for Academic Excellence is 2.3 out of 5.
Unfortunately, this score puts Academy for Academic Excellence at below average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the majority of students who take AP tests at Academy for Academic Excellence don't pass. This performance places Academy for Academic Excellence in the bottom 50% of schools for AP tests in California.
This isn't all bad news. It's already good that Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence. 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 Academy for Academic Excellence, there is a total enrollment of 90 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).
Of AP-taking students, 64 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 2 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 23 took AP courses but took NO tests.
This is good test participation. Most AP students at Academy for Academic Excellence 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. Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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, 20 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 17 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 17 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 Academy for Academic Excellence fail all the AP exams they take.
Overall, this points to a fairly strong AP program at Academy for Academic Excellence. 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 Academy for Academic Excellence may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.
If you attend Academy for Academic Excellence, 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 Academy for Academic Excellence, 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence.
English/Language Arts
At Academy for Academic Excellence, 88% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered excellent and puts Academy for Academic Excellence in the top 5% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The vast majority of Academy for Academic Excellence students easily meet state standards, and many of them are likely well above average. Students here are very well prepared academically.
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 Academy for Academic Excellence, 49% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Academy for Academic Excellence in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence. 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 Academy for Academic Excellence. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.
Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Academy for Academic Excellence 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 Academy for Academic Excellence offer?
AP Courses
Academy for Academic Excellence offers AP courses in 6 subjects.
This is a relatively low number of AP subjects, putting Academy for Academic Excellence in the bottom 50% of California schools offering AP courses. You'll likely be able to take the most popular courses like Calculus, English, and US History, but you won't have most other subjects available.
The total number of AP subjects is 38, so Academy for Academic Excellence is missing most. If you want to take any AP courses not being offered at Academy for Academic Excellence, ask your counselor for ideas on how to cover the gap. If you're a strong student, you might consider transferring schools to access a more advanced curriculum.
Of course, keep in mind that even though Academy for Academic Excellence doesn't offer many AP courses, it might teach the ones it does offer quite well. You can see student performance in the AP score analysis section above.
The following AP courses were offered at Academy for Academic Excellence during 2015-2016:
| Course Title |
|---|
| Calculus AB |
| English Language and Composition |
| English Literature and Composition |
| Statistics |
| United States Government and Politics |
| United States History |
Sports Teams
Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at Academy for Academic Excellence. 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 Academy for Academic Excellence.
By the way, the Academy For Academic Excellence mascot is the Knights. Go Knights!
Academy for Academic Excellence fields 8 teams for girls' sports. This is a relatively number that puts Academy for Academic Excellence in the bottom 50% of California schools that offer girls' sports. This is understandable - sports teams are expensive to support, and many schools would rather put those resources elsewhere. If you participate in a sport that Academy for Academic Excellence doesn't offer, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.
And now for the boys: Academy for Academic Excellence fields 11 teams for boys' sports. This relatively number puts Academy for Academic Excellence in the bottom 50% of California schools that offer boys' sports. Sports teams are expensive to support, and Academy for Academic Excellence may not be able to offer the full range of options. If you participate in a sport that Academy for Academic Excellence doesn't offer, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.
| Boys Teams | Girls Teams |
|---|---|
| Basketball
Var
JV
|
Basketball
Var
|
| Golf
Var
|
|
| Fieldhockey
Var
|
|
| Tennis
Var
|
|
| Wrestling
Var
|
|
| Volleyball
Var
|
Volleyball
Var
JV
|
| Baseball
Var
|
|
| Softball
Var
|
|
| Trackfield
Var
|
Trackfield
Var
|
| Crosscountry
Var
|
|
| Soccer
Var
Fr
|
Soccer
Var
|
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
- AP Course Ledger
- IBO.org