Carmel High School: Full Guide

Location: Carmel, CA

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

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

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

Carmel High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Carmel, CA in Monterey County.

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

Contact Information

Mailing address:

Carmel High School
Po Box 222780
Carmel, CA 93922-2780

Phone number: 8316241821

Carmel High School homepage: http://www.carmelhigh.org/

Principal: Rick Lopez
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at Carmel High School is 847 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, Carmel High 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 Carmel High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at Carmel High has steadily 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	127	96	223
10^th grade	105	111	216
11^th grade	99	110	209
12^th grade	99	100	199

As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 24 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 Carmel could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Carmel High. Alternatively, Carmel High could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at Carmel High School?

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

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

From our statistics, Carmel High 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 Carmel High 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 Carmel High 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 Carmel High is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.

	Percentage	Number
American Indian/Alaska Native	1.0%	9
Asian	3.1%	27
Hispanic	15.9%	135
Black	0.5%	5
White	67.6%	573
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander	0.5%	5
Two or more races	10.9%	93

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

What are the family incomes of students at Carmel 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 Carmel High, 3.5% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 9.4% qualify for free lunches.

This means Carmel High has a very low poverty level. Nearly no students at Carmel High qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Carmel is thus likely to have a very affluent community, and Carmel High is in the top 10% of California schools in terms of family income.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	30	3.5%
Free lunches	80	9.4%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	737	87.0%

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

Because Carmel High 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 Carmel High 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 Carmel 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 Carmel 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 Carmel High 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 795 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:

Carmel Unified School District Safety

School Name	Total Referred	Total Arrests	Enrollment
Carmel Valley High	4	2	28

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

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

Standardized Testing

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

The average composite SAT score is a 1710 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 86 at Carmel High take the SAT.

This is a very high average SAT score, putting Carmel High School in the top 10% of all California high schools. The average student at Carmel High is already scoring in the 75th percentile nationwide or higher - in fact, 83% of students score above the national average. The top students will likely be competing in the top tier nationwide.

Because the SAT measures academic ability, this is a good sign that you're surrounded by high-achieving peers. If you can keep up with your classmates at Carmel High - or even exceed them - you'll have a great shot at getting into very competitive colleges.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source	Critical Reading	Math	Writing	Composite
Carmel High	579	570	561	1710
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 1710 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1710 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1710 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 Carmel High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.

At Carmel High, the average ACT composite score was 25, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 121 out of 847 total students take the ACT.

This is very good performance, putting Carmel High in the top 25% of high schools in California by ACT score. Nationwide, a 24 on the ACT is 74th percentile, so most ACT test takers at Carmel High are well above average.

Since the ACT is designed to gauge what you learn in school, high ACT scores are are a good indication that you'll get a great education and be surrounded by other students who value academic achievements.

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

Average ACT Scores

Source	English	Math	Reading	Science
Carmel High	26	25	27	25
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 Carmel 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 395 students in grades 9-12 at Carmel High take 822 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 Carmel High is 3.1 out of 5.

This is a solid achievement showing above average performance. The majority of students get a passing grade of 3 or above, placing them above the national average. This performance places Carmel High School in the top 25% of schools for AP tests.

Carmel High therefore has a robust AP program with classes that will help you pass the AP exam. Furthermore, a sizable number of students still earn a 4 or a 5 on their AP tests, so if you're motivated to do well, you can still get a great AP score.

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 Carmel 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 Carmel High, there is a total enrollment of 387 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).

Of AP-taking students, 345 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 2 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 Carmel 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. Carmel 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 Carmel 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, 159 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 56 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 143 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 Carmel High School fail all the AP exams they take.

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

If you attend Carmel 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 Carmel 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 Carmel 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 Carmel 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 Carmel High.

English/Language Arts

At Carmel High School, 81% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered very good and puts Carmel High in the top 10% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. Most Carmel High students pass or exceed state standards, and many of them are likely well above average.

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 Carmel High School, 53% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Carmel High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Carmel 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 Carmel 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 Carmel 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 Carmel High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.

Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Carmel 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 Carmel High School offer?

AP Courses

Carmel High School offers AP courses in 17 subjects.

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

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

Course Title
Biology
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Chemistry
Chinese Language and Culture
Computer Science A
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Environmental Science
Human Geography
Psychology
Spanish Language and Culture
Statistics
Studio Art: 2-D Design
United States Government and Politics
United States History
World History

Sports Teams

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

By the way, the Carmel High mascot is the Padres. Go Padres!

Carmel High School fields 16 teams for girls' sports. This is a sizable number that puts Carmel 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 Carmel High doesn't offer, consider looking for a local non-school team that you can join.

And now for the boys: Carmel High School fields 23 teams for boys' sports. This puts Carmel High in the top 25% of California schools that offer boys' sports. Boys will have a large pick of sports to try out for.

Boys Teams	Girls Teams
Lacrosse Var JV Fr
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
	Fieldhockey 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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