Location: Poway, CA
Are you a student or parent at Abraxas Continuation High School? Want to understand how to get the most out of high school?
We've written the best guide to Abraxas Continuation High available. Here we'll cover:
- Breakdowns of student ethnicity, gender, and family income
- How safe Abraxas Continuation High is to attend
- SAT/ACT/AP scores earned by Abraxas Continuation High students
- Which AP/IB classes you can take at Abraxas Continuation High
- Every sports team you can join at Abraxas Continuation High
Let's get started!
Basic Information
Abraxas Continuation High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in Poway, CA in San Diego County.
Based on its location, Abraxas Continuation High is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:
Contact Information
Mailing address:
Abraxas Continuation High School12450 Glenoak Rd. Poway, CA 92064-3299
Phone number: 8587485900
Abraxas Continuation High School homepage: https://www.powayusd.com/pusdahs/
Principal: David MacLeodEmail the principal: [email protected]
Student Demographics
Student Enrollment
The total enrollment at Abraxas Continuation High School is 233 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, Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation High lacking for your interests, consider looking to your local community to supplement your interests.
Growth in Student Body Size
Is Abraxas Continuation High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.
From our calculations, the enrollment at Abraxas Continuation High has steadily 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th grade | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 11th grade | 18 | 12 | 30 |
| 12th grade | 87 | 38 | 125 |
As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 125 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that Abraxas Continuation High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.
There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of Poway could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into Abraxas Continuation High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.
Gender Split
Are there more boys or girls at Abraxas Continuation High School?
From our statistics, Abraxas Continuation High has a 69:31 split between male and female students in the high school grades.
There is a large male majority at Abraxas Continuation High, and much more than you would expect from the general population in San Diego County. As a result, it'll feel like there are a lot more girls than boys in your classes.
Sometimes this imbalance can result from random chance and may not suggest anything about Abraxas Continuation High. In other cases, the school might preferentially select for males. For example, in our data we find that continuation high schools unfortunately seem to be male-dominated. In yet other cases, other neighboring schools might attract female students, drawing them away from Abraxas Continuation High.
If the male majority is concerning to you, we suggest contacting Abraxas Continuation High administration and asking if they have any thoughts about why there's a gender imbalance. Their phone number is 8587485900.
Ethnicity Breakdown
What's the racial diversity at Abraxas Continuation High School? Does one ethnicity make up most of the student body, or is it fairly balanced?
From our statistics, Abraxas Continuation High has a diverse student body. No single ethnicity composes more than 50% of all students, which means you'll be surrounded by a diverse set of students in class. Only a third of California schools show this much diversity.
The most common ethnicity at Abraxas Continuation High is white. In California, white students make up 26.3% of all California students, and are the second most common ethnicity after Hispanic students.
| Percentage | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 1.2% | 3 |
| Asian | 11.5% | 27 |
| Hispanic | 30.9% | 72 |
| Black | 4.7% | 11 |
| White | 48.0% | 112 |
| Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander | 0.4% | 1 |
| Two or more races | 3.0% | 7 |
High schools usually reflect the population in the surrounding area, so the ethnicities of students likely resembles those of Poway. 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 Abraxas Continuation High Families
What are the family incomes of students at Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation High, 6.8% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 24.8% qualify for free lunches.
This means Abraxas Continuation High has a low poverty level. The overwhelming majority of students at Abraxas Continuation High don't qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Poway is thus likely to be an affluent community, with quite high family incomes.
| Number | Percent | |
|---|---|---|
| Reduced-price lunches | 16 | 6.8% |
| Free lunches | 58 | 24.8% |
| Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches | 159 | 68.2% |
As with ethnicity, this likely reflects the surrounding community in Poway and doesn't speak much about the school itself.
Because Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation 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 267 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:
Poway Unified School District Safety
| School Name | Total Referred | Total Arrests | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mt. Carmel High | 54 | 0 | 1966 |
| Poway High | 17 | 0 | 2419 |
| Rancho Bernardo High | 61 | 0 | 2254 |
| Westview High | 0 | 0 | 2399 |
| Del Norte High | 54 | 0 | 1091 |
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 Abraxas Continuation High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?
We've compiled everything we could find about Abraxas Continuation High's academics here.
Graduation Rate
To start off, an important benchmark of academic achievement is graduation rate. For all students who start high school at Abraxas Continuation High, the state of California wants as many students to graduate as possible, since a high school diploma can mean a big difference in getting a job.
At Abraxas Continuation High, 94% Abraxas Continuation High students graduated within four years of starting high school.
Here's how this stacks up to other schools. The California state government has defined 90% as a target rate. The state average is around 80-85%.
Abraxas Continuation High is in the 84th percentile of all public high schools in California for graduation rate. This is well above average. Generally, a graduation rate of above 90% is considered good and well above average, and below 75% is well below average.
Note: This data comes from a few years back, but the trends are likely to stay the same, since schools don't get significantly better or worse within a short period of time.
Standardized Testing
Next, we'll look at another major piece of high school academics: standardized testing performance for Abraxas Continuation High School students. These are tests that are administered to large populations of students for comparison purposes.
State Tests
As of 2014, eleventh graders attending Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation High.
English/Language Arts
At Abraxas Continuation High School, 24% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.
This is considered below average and puts Abraxas Continuation High in the bottom 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The majority of Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects Abraxas Continuation 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 Abraxas Continuation High School, 4% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts Abraxas Continuation High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of Abraxas Continuation 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.
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