El Cajon Valley High School: Full Guide

Location: El Cajon, CA

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

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

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

Let's get started!

Basic Information

El Cajon Valley High School is a public school, supporting grades 9 to 12 . It's located in El Cajon, CA in San Diego County.

Based on its location, El Cajon Valley High is classified as a school in a large suburb. Here's the location on a map:

Contact Information

Mailing address:

El Cajon Valley High School
1035 E. Madison Ave.
El Cajon, CA 92021-6226

Phone number: 6195795855

El Cajon Valley High School homepage: https://www.facebook.com/ECVHS

Principal: Kim Patterson
Email the principal: [email protected]

Student Demographics

Student Enrollment

The total enrollment at El Cajon Valley High School is 1784 students, making it a large high school, in the top 25% of all California high schools by size.

Attending El Cajon Valley High will feel like attending a small college. You'll have a few hundred students in your class, enough to provide an interesting set of activities, sports, and classes to try. But compared to the largest high schools in California, the student body size won't be overwhelming.

Growth in Student Body Size

Is El Cajon Valley High School growing or shrinking? This will help you see trends in where the school is headed.

From our calculations, the enrollment at El Cajon Valley 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
9^th grade	210	159	369
10^th grade	228	206	434
11^th grade	246	213	459
12^th grade	258	264	522

As you can see in the table above, the senior class is 153 students larger than the freshman class. This suggests that El Cajon Valley High is shrinking in size and taking on fewer students.

There are a few reasons this can happen. The population of El Cajon could be decreasing, thus sending fewer students into El Cajon Valley High. Alternatively, other schools (like charter or private schools) might be appearing, drawing students away.

Gender Split

Are there more boys or girls at El Cajon Valley High School?

From our statistics, El Cajon Valley High has a 53:47 split between male and female students in the high school grades.

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

From our statistics, El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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	0.3%	6
Asian	2.2%	40
Hispanic	38.9%	695
Black	8.9%	159
White	46.1%	824
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander	0.6%	12
Two or more races	2.6%	48

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

What are the family incomes of students at El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High, 2.8% of students qualify for reduced-price lunches, and 85.4% qualify for free lunches.

This means El Cajon Valley High has a high percentage of students at or near poverty. Almost a third of all schools in California show this level of poverty, and by National Center for Education Statistics standards, El Cajon Valley High can be classified as a high poverty school. The income level of families in El Cajon is thus likely to be low.

	Number	Percent
Reduced-price lunches	51	2.8%
Free lunches	1524	85.4%
Do not qualify for reduced-price or free lunches	209	11.7%

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

Unfortunately, schools in areas of lower income levels are likely to be more poorly funded. As a result, they might feature less advanced coursework like AP/IB classes, and you may not have a full range of sports and extracurriculars to draw from. Because El Cajon Valley High is an especially high poverty-level school, it might not have the resources you need to meet your full potential.

You definitely don't have control over the city, the school, or other families, but you can structure your own learning to be more productive. If you'd like to open yourself to more opportunities, you can look into whether it's possible to transfer to a nearby school with higher income levels.

If not, don't be alarmed - it's possible that El Cajon Valley High has all that you need for your ambition. And you can definitely be proactive about learning outside of your school, looking to your community or to the Internet to find more resources.

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School Safety

How safe is El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 2182 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:

Grossmont Union High School District Safety

School Name	Total Referred	Total Arrests	Enrollment
Chaparral High	0	0	354
El Capitan High	7	0	1702
Granite Hills High	0	4	1867
Grossmont High	2	0	2572
Helix High	0	0	2515
Monte Vista High	0	0	1834

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 El Cajon Valley High School? Will you be competitive for college? Will you have access to advanced classes?

We've compiled everything we could find about El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High, 67% (of 510) El Cajon Valley 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%.

El Cajon Valley High is in the 33rd percentile of all public high schools in California for graduation rate. This is below 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High School SAT scores.

The average composite SAT score is a 1380 out of 2400, compared to a national average of 1500. Each year, roughly 163 at El Cajon Valley High take the SAT.

This is a below-average SAT score, putting El Cajon Valley High School in the bottom 50% of all California schools. Only 32% of students here score the national average or higher. Because the SAT measures academic achievement, this suggests that El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High's average, you'll have a great shot at entering a good college.

Keep in mind, however, that only 9% of all students at El Cajon Valley High took the SAT, so the results could be skewed by the small sample size.

Here's a breakdown of SAT scores by section:

Average SAT Scores (2013-2014)

Source	Critical Reading	Math	Writing	Composite
El Cajon Valley High	450	472	461	1380
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 1380 as an SAT score? Find out with our complete 1380 SAT score guide, including which colleges you can get into with a 1380 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 El Cajon Valley High School ACT scores with the rest of the country.

At El Cajon Valley High, the average ACT composite score was 19, compared to the nationwide average of 20. Each year, roughly 84 out of 1784 total students take the ACT.

This is below average performance, putting El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High.

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

Average ACT Scores

Source	English	Math	Reading	Science
El Cajon Valley High	19	20	20	19
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 El Cajon Valley 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 238 students in grades 9-12 at El Cajon Valley High take 356 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 El Cajon Valley High is 2.1 out of 5.

Unfortunately, this score puts El Cajon Valley High at below average performance. For AP tests, the passing score is considered a 3, and the majority of students who take AP tests at El Cajon Valley High don't pass. This performance places El Cajon Valley High School in the bottom 50% of schools for AP tests in California.

This isn't all bad news. It's already good that El Cajon Valley High 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High, there is a total enrollment of 384 in AP courses (a student taking more than one AP course counts more than once).

Of AP-taking students, 87 took AP tests for ALL AP courses. 291 students took AP tests for SOME AP Courses, and 6 took AP courses but took NO tests.

This is acceptable test participation. Most AP students at El Cajon Valley High School take the AP exam for just some of their AP courses, outnumbering students who take exams for all or none of their courses. The good news here is that El Cajon Valley High students feel confident to take at least some AP tests. The question you may want to figure out is why more students don't feel confident enough to take tests for ALL their AP classes. This is something you can ask your counselor or AP teachers.

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 El Cajon Valley 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, 199 students passed every AP test they took, which is a fantastic job. 117 students passed some but not all AP exams, and 56 students didn't pass ANY AP exam they took.

This is very strong performance. The majority of El Cajon Valley High School students pass ALL the AP tests they take - an impressive feat, especially if students take multiple AP exams each year!

Overall, this points to a strong AP program at El Cajon Valley High: across all AP course offerings, teachers are able to prepare students well for the exam. There are still some students who fail some or all of their exams, but this is a good starting point to improve from. You'll have a strong foundation to learn from throughout high school.

To find out the passing rates for specific AP courses at El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High.

English/Language Arts

At El Cajon Valley High School, 31% of students meet or exceed state standards in English/Language Arts.

This is considered below average and puts El Cajon Valley High in the bottom 50% of all high schools in California for English/Language Arts. The majority of El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High will likely rise over time. But it still reflects El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High School, 13% of students meet or exceed state standards in Math. This is considered well below average and puts El Cajon Valley High in the bottom 25% of all high schools in California. The vast majority of El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High. Taking AP/IB classes also raises your weighted GPA and makes you a stronger college applicant.

Furthermore, many colleges will accept your El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High School offer?

AP Courses

El Cajon Valley High School offers AP courses in 10 subjects.

This is a reasonable number of AP subjects, putting El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High during 2015-2016:

Course Title
Calculus AB
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Environmental Science
European History
German Language and Culture
Spanish Language and Culture
Studio Art: 2-D Design
United States Government and Politics
United States History

Sports Teams

Finally, we'll cover which sports teams are available at El Cajon Valley 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 El Cajon Valley High.

By the way, the El Cajon Valley High mascot is the Braves. Go Braves!

El Cajon Valley High School fields 17 teams for girls' sports. This is a high number that puts El Cajon Valley High in the top 25% of California schools that offer girls' sports. If you're a female, you'll have lots of options of sports and levels to try out for.

And now for the boys: El Cajon Valley High School fields 19 teams for boys' sports. This puts El Cajon Valley High in the top 50% of California schools that offer boys' sports. You won't get every sport and level possible here, but you'll have a decent number of options. If you participate in a sport that El Cajon Valley High doesn't offer, consider looking for a local non-school team that you can join.

Boys Teams	Girls Teams
Basketball Var JV Fr	Basketball 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
	Trackfield 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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