Alternative Education-San Joaquin High: Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.
Alternative Education-San Joaquin posts 50% meeting the standard, and 24.0% going well past it. Most kids here keep up. Fewer get pushed further. Ask the school what it does for a child who already finds the work easy.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Grad rate | College readiness | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53 | 24% | 50% | 86.4% | 56.3% | 11.9% | 1.4% |
| CA average · High School | 44 | 16% | 36% | 87.6% | 35.4% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
Alternative Education-San Joaquin High scores 53 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 71st percentile of 2,160 California high schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🤝 Culture First — Ask whether the low absenteeism and suspension numbers come from what the school does or from the community it serves — both can produce the same numbers, and only a visit tells you which.
Most rating sites would stop at “50% proficient” and call it done. Alternative Education-San Joaquin deserves a closer read. The school sits in Irvine, where one in three students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 11.9% chronic absenteeism — versus 30.2% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 85th to the 71st percentile since 2022.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | — | 75% | 88% | — | 65% |
| Grade 8 | 73% | 77% | 77% | 82% | — |
| Grade 11 | — | 65% | 79% | 84% | 64% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | — | 64% | 64% | — | 53% |
| Grade 8 | 82% | 63% | 55% | 45% | — |
| Grade 11 | — | 64% | 50% | 36% | 36% |
The story this school is actually telling
Of 100 students here: 50 are proficient by 11th grade → 86 graduate → 56 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask how the school challenges kids who clear the standard early. The gap between meeting and exceeding is where pacing shows.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
9 of 13 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
Alternative Education-San Joaquin High serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here, with no school-to-school transitions.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
At 88 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California high school (≈1450).
On the state's science test (CAST), 40% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Alternative Education-San Joaquin High a good high school?
What are Alternative Education-San Joaquin High's CAASPP test scores?
How does Alternative Education-San Joaquin High rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Alternative Education-San Joaquin High?
How does Alternative Education-San Joaquin High compare to other schools in Irvine?
Your other options
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 71
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 83
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 17 | 41% | 24% | 12% | 24% | 65% | +17 |
| Grade 8 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 11 | 25 | 32% | 32% | 32% | 4% | 64% | +17 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 17 | 18% | 35% | 24% | 24% | 53% | +19 |
| Grade 8 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 11 | 25 | 16% | 20% | 16% | 48% | 36% | +13 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 42 | 14% | 26% | 57% | 2% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Education-San Joaquin High ← | — | 53 | 24.0% | 50.0% | — | 1.4% |
| Arnold O. Beckman High | 3 mi | 73 | 49.1% | 72.0% | — | 1.8% |
| Woodbridge High | 0.9 mi | 71 | 41.9% | 69.1% | — | 0.4% |
| Portola High | 1.3 mi | 70 | 41.1% | 69.0% | — | 1.0% |
| California average | — | 44 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 60 | 85 | #305 | 33.5% | 64.3% | 5.9% | 0.2% | — |
| 2023 | 63 | 89 | #233 | 42.6% | 64.7% | 6.1% | 0.7% | — |
| 2024 | 55 | 77 | #488 | 24.0% | 60.0% | 12.4% | 1.6% | — |
| 2025 | 53 | 71 | #617 | 24.0% | 50.0% | 11.9% | 1.4% | — |
- — Subgroup results are suppressed for small student counts (fewer than 15 tested), following CDE privacy rules.
- — Scored here as a high school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 12.5% | 0.0% | -12.5pp |
| Male | 0.0% | 0.0% | +0.0pp |
| Asian | 8.3% | 0.0% | -8.3pp |
| All Students | 8.6% | 0.0% | -8.6pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | — | 0.0% | — |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | — | 0.0% | — |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction