Location: O'neals, CA
Are you a student or parent at Minarets Charter High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Minarets Charter High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Minarets Charter High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Minarets Charter High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Minarets Charter High
- Every sports team you can join at Minarets Charter High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Minarets Charter High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in O'neals, CA in Madera County.
Based on its location, Minarets Charter High is classified as a school in a distant rural area, somewhat far from an urbanized area. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Minarets Charter High SchoolPo Box 208 O'neals, CA 93645
Phone number: 5598688659
Minarets Charter High School homepage: http://www.minarets.us/
Principal: Daniel ChingEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Minarets Charter High School is 249 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, Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter High lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Minarets Charter High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Minarets Charter High 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 | 25 | 30 | 55 |
| 10th grade | 47 | 45 | 92 |
| 11th grade | 29 | 37 | 66 |
| 12th grade | 18 | 18 | 36 |
As you can see in the table above, the freshman class is 19 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 O'neals could be growing in population, thus sending more students into Minarets Charter High. Alternatively, Minarets Charter High could be relaxing its student policies and taking in more students.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Minarets Charter High School?
From our statistics, Minarets Charter High has a 48:52 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Minarets Charter High has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Madera 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter High is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 1.6% | 4 |
| Asian | 1.6% | 4 |
| Hispanic | 20.0% | 50 |
| Black | 1.6% | 4 |
| White | 67.4% | 168 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.4% | 1 |
| Two or more races | 7.2% | 18 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of O'neals. 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 Minarets Charter High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Minarets 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 Minarets Charter High, 5.2% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 22.8% qualify for free lunches.
This means Minarets Charter High has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Minarets Charter High don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. O'neals is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 13 | 5.2% |
| Free lunches | 57 | 22.8% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 179 | 71.8% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in O'neals and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter 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.
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 Minarets 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter 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 135 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:
Chawanakee Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manzanita Community Day | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chawanakee Academy | 0 | 0 | 142 |
| Mountain Oaks High | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Minarets High | 0 | 0 | 280 |
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 Minarets Charter High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Minarets Charter High's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Minarets 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 Minarets Charter High School SAT scores.
The average composite SAT score is a 1400 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 33 at Minarets Charter High take the SAT.
This is a below-average SAT score, putting Minarets Charter High School in the bottom 50% of all California schools. Only 33% of students here score the national average or higher. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Minarets Charter High may offer a somewhat lacking high school education, compared to schools with higher SAT averages.
Note, however, that an average is just an average - top performers will still be able to impress. If you work hard and get an SAT score well above Minarets Charter High's average, you'll have a great shot at entering a good college.
Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:
Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)
| Source | Critical Reading | Math | Writing | Composite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minarets Charter High | 475 | 466 | 463 | 1400 |
| 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 1400 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1400 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1400 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.
Advanced Placement (AP)
Advanced Placement (AP) classes are college-level courses that are an additional academic challenge may give Minarets 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 21 students in grades 9-12 at Minarets Charter High take 38 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 Minarets Charter High is 1.9 out of 5.
Compared to schools across California, this score puts Minarets Charter High at below average performance. On AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and unfortunately the number of students who don't pass is greater than the number of do. This performance places Minarets Charter High School in the bottom 25 % of schools for AP tests.
This isn't all bad news for you, though. It's still good that Minarets Charter High offers AP classes so you have the opportunity to take courses at a college level. Your school might be new to offering AP courses, and typically teachers get better at preparing students for AP tests over time. Finally, as you'll see below, there are still students who earn a passing grade of 3 or above - and with hard work, you can be one of them.
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 Minarets 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 Minarets Charter High, there is a total enrollment of 18 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).
Of AP-taking students, 0 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 6 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 13 took AP courses but took NO tests.
It seems that most students at Minarets Charter High School who take AP courses do not take any AP exams at the end of the year. This is quite unusual, and it's possible that there is a reporting error from the high school to the government (where we got this information). Another possibility is that Minarets Charter High offers an AP course to students, but don't expect them to take the actual AP exam.
You may want to ask your school counselor about whether AP course students usually sign up for the test. If not, ask why that is.
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.
To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at Minarets 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 Minarets 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter High.
English/Language Arts
At Minarets Charter High School, 32% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered below average and puts Minarets Charter High in the bottom 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The majority of Minarets Charter High students do not pass state standards, and only a small percentage pass.
This specific percentage isn't much cause for concern - because the Common Core is new, the pass rate at Minarets Charter High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects Minarets Charter High's below average 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 Minarets Charter High School, 6% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Minarets Charter High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.
Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Minarets Charter 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 Minarets Charter High School offer?
AP Courses
Minarets Charter High School offers AP courses in 14 subjects.
This is a reasonable number of AP subjects, putting Minarets Charter High School in the top 50% of California schools that offer AP courses. You'll likely have access to some of the most popular math and humanities AP subjects, as well as a few others.
The total number of AP subjects is 38, so Minarets Charter High is missing a large number of subjects, including some popular ones. If there are any AP courses you want to take that aren't being offered at Minarets Charter High, ask your counselor for ideas on how to cover the gap.
Of course, keep in mind that quality matters even more than quantity - even if Minarets Charter High doesn't offer every AP course under the sun, the classes might still be taught very well. You can see student performance in the AP score analysis section above.
The following AP courses were offered at Minarets Charter High during 2015-2016:
| Course Title |
|---|
| Biology |
| Calculus AB |
| English Language and Composition |
| English Literature and Composition |
| European History |
| Macroeconomics |
| Physics 1: Algebra-Based |
| Physics 2: Algebra-Based |
| Statistics |
| Studio Art: 2-D Design |
| Studio Art: 3-D Design |
| Studio Art: Drawing |
| United States Government and Politics |
| United States History |
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
- AP Course Ledger
- IBO.org