Location: Acton, CA
Are you a student or parent at Vasquez High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Vasquez High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Vasquez High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Vasquez High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Vasquez High
- Every sports team you can join at Vasquez High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Vasquez High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Acton, CA in Los Angeles County.
Based on its location, Vasquez High is classified as a school in a rural fringe area, near an urbanized area. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Vasquez High School33630 Red Rover Mine Rd. Acton, CA 93510-1641
Phone number: 6612690451
Vasquez High School homepage: http://vhs.aadusd.org/
Principal: Tyrone DevoeEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Vasquez High School is 436 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, Vasquez 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 Vasquez High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Vasquez High 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 | 35 | 58 | 93 |
| 10th grade | 63 | 68 | 131 |
| 11th grade | 62 | 43 | 105 |
| 12th grade | 59 | 48 | 107 |
As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 14 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Vasquez High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.
There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Acton could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Vasquez High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Vasquez High School?
From our statistics, Vasquez High has a 51:49 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
Vasquez High has a balanced male-female ratio that's largely representative of the general population in Los Angeles 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez High is one of hundreds of schools in the state that have a majority of white students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 1.3% | 6 |
| Asian | 1.1% | 5 |
| Hispanic | 33.7% | 147 |
| Black | 0.9% | 4 |
| White | 57.7% | 252 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.2% | 1 |
| Two or more races | 4.8% | 21 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Acton. 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 Vasquez High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Vasquez 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 Vasquez High, 9.1% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 20.8% qualify for free lunches.
This means Vasquez High has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Vasquez High don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Acton is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 40 | 9.1% |
| Free lunches | 91 | 20.8% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 305 | 69.9% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Acton and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 512 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:
Acton-agua Dulce Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assurance Learning Academy | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 Vasquez High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Vasquez High's academics here.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Vasquez 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 Vasquez High School SAT scores.
The average composite SAT score is a 1500 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 51 at Vasquez High take the SAT.
This is an average SAT score, putting Vasquez High School right around the national average. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that Vasquez High 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasquez High | 517 | 492 | 495 | 1500 |
| 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 1500 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1500 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1500 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 Vasquez High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.
At Vasquez High, the average ACT composite score was 20, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 14 out of 436 total students take the ACT.
This is below average performance, putting Vasquez High in the bottom 50% of California high schools. Most students who take the ACT are below the national average.
Since the ACT tests what you learn in school, this is a pretty strong indicator that you'll get an average or below average education at Vasquez High.
Here are the average English, Math, Reading, and Science scores for Vasquez High compared to California and the US:
Average ACT Scores
| Source | English | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasquez High | 20 | 20 | 22 | 20 |
| California | 21.8 | 22.8 | 22.3 | 21.7 |
| UnitedStates | 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 Vasquez 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 55 students in grades 9-12 at Vasquez High take 79 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 Vasquez High is 3.0 out of 5.
This score puts Vasquez High at average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the number of students who pass and don't pass are roughly even. This performance places Vasquez High School in the top 50% of schools for AP tests.
It's great that Vasquez High offers an AP program so you have the opportunity to take courses at a college level. Even though roughly half of all AP students here don't get a passing grade, half do - so with motivated studying throughout the year, you'll be able to beat the 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez High, there is a total enrollment of 132 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).
Of AP-taking students, 8 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 34 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 89 took AP courses but took NO tests.
This is bad test participation. Most AP students at Vasquez High School take the AP exam for NONE of their AP courses. This is an unusual situation, as the goal of an AP course is typically to take the standardized national AP test.
What you want to figure out is why so many students take AP courses but end up not taking the course. Do they not feel comfortable enough taking the AP test, knowing they may not pass? Or is it hard for Vasquez High students to take AP courses? Good people to ask are your counselors and AP teachers.
Hopefully, you may find that there are just logistical issues with taking AP tests that you might be able to overcome. However, you may also learn that the AP courses at Vasquez High don't prepare students well enough for the test, which reflects poorly on the AP program at your school. If the AP resources available to you don't give you confidence, consider self-studying to prepare for the AP test.
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 Vasquez 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, 12 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 14 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 8 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 Vasquez High School fail all the AP exams they take.
Overall, this points to a fairly strong AP program at Vasquez 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 Vasquez High may be stronger at some subjects and weaker in others.
If you attend Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez High.
English/Language Arts
At Vasquez High School, 42% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered below average and puts Vasquez High in the bottom 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The majority of Vasquez 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 Vasquez High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects Vasquez 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 Vasquez High School, 14% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Vasquez High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.
Furthermore, many colleges will accept your Vasquez 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 Vasquez High School offer?
AP Courses
Vasquez High School offers AP courses in 15 subjects.
This is a reasonable number of AP subjects, putting Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez 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 Vasquez High during 2015-2016:
| Course Title |
|---|
| Calculus AB |
| Calculus BC |
| Chemistry |
| English Language and Composition |
| English Literature and Composition |
| Environmental Science |
| Macroeconomics |
| Microeconomics |
| Physics C: Mechanics |
| Psychology |
| Spanish Language and Culture |
| Statistics |
| United States Government and Politics |
| United States History |
| World History |
Sports Teams
Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at Vasquez 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 Vasquez High.
By the way, the Vasquez High mascot is the Mustangs. Go Mustangs!
Vasquez High School fields 14 teams for girls' sports. This is a sizable number that puts Vasquez 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 Vasquez High doesn't offer, consider looking for a local non-school team that you can join.
And now for the boys: Vasquez High School fields 13 teams for boys' sports. This relatively number puts Vasquez High in the bottom 50% of California schools that offer boys' sports. Sports teams are expensive to support, and Vasquez High may not be able to offer the full range of options. If you participate in a sport that Vasquez High doesn't offer, consider joining a local non-school team to get practice and compete.
| Boys Teams | Girls Teams |
|---|---|
| Basketball
Var
JV
|
Basketball
Var
JV
Fr
|
| Fieldhockey
Var
|
|
| Football
Var
JV
|
|
| Wrestling
Var
|
|
| Volleyball
Var
JV
|
Volleyball
Var
JV
|
| Baseball
Var
JV
|
|
| Softball
Var
JV
Fr
|
|
| Trackfield
Var
|
Trackfield
Var
|
| Crosscountry
Var
|
Crosscountry
Var
|
| Soccer
Var
JV
|
Soccer
Var
JV
|
| Tennis
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