Altus Schools South Bay: No single number tells this school's story. Here's the honest picture.
Altus Schools South Bay posts 35% meeting the standard and 16.0% exceeding it, against 36% and 15.8% statewide. The gaps and the bright spots below are the real read.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Grad rate | College readiness | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 32 | 16% | 35% | 68.4% | 8.8% | 19.6% | 0.8% |
| CA average · High School | 44 | 16% | 36% | 87.6% | 35.4% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
Altus Schools South Bay scores 32 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 26th 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 →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “35% proficient” and call it done. Altus Schools South Bay deserves a closer read. The school sits in Chula Vista, where three in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
As a charter, Altus Schools South Bay enrolls by application rather than address. That changes how you get in, but it doesn't change the score.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 26th percentile since 2019.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 35% of students meet the standard today, above the 31% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 53% | 55% | 41% | 14% | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 38% | 30% | 28% | 39% | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 53% | 55% | 70% | 64% | 57% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 32% | 15% | 11% | 0% | 13% |
| Grade 8 | 15% | 12% | 10% | 12% | 5% |
| Grade 11 | 10% | 14% | 20% | 11% | 13% |
The story this school is actually telling
Of 100 students here: 35 are proficient by 11th grade → 68 graduate → 9 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask what share of students complete the full college-prep course sequence, and who gets steered into it.
- 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
At Altus Schools South Bay in Chula Vista, 38.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 38.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Altus Schools South Bay outperforms its district average for low-income students by 0.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (7.0% Math proficient); Hispanic students (39.3% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 86 students tested.
9 of 14 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Showing up, and staying in class
The people teaching here
What gets spent here
$1,604 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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 372 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California high school (≈1450).
On the state's science test (CAST), 22% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Altus Schools South Bay a good high school?
What are Altus Schools South Bay's CAASPP test scores?
How does Altus Schools South Bay rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Altus Schools South Bay?
How does Altus Schools South Bay compare to other schools in Chula Vista?
How does Altus Schools South Bay serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
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 | 24 | 8% | 25% | 29% | 38% | 33% | −14 |
| Grade 8 | 41 | 10% | 15% | 27% | 49% | 24% | −22 |
| Grade 11 | 53 | 30% | 26% | 30% | 13% | 57% | +9 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 24 | 4% | 8% | 21% | 67% | 13% | −21 |
| Grade 8 | 41 | 5% | 0% | 15% | 80% | 5% | −27 |
| Grade 11 | 53 | 2% | 11% | 28% | 58% | 13% | −10 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 154 | 3% | 19% | 64% | 14% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 86 | 38.4% | +0 | +0 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 89 | 39.3% | +0 | +0 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altus Schools South Bay ← | — | 32 | 16.0% | 34.9% | — | 0.8% |
| Hilltop Senior High | 0.9 mi | 54 | 14.1% | 39.5% | — | 3.3% |
| Chula Vista Senior High | 2.3 mi | 50 | 10.2% | 30.4% | — | 2.3% |
| Sweetwater High | 2.4 mi | 48 | 9.0% | 29.4% | — | 3.4% |
| California average | — | 44 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 30 | 24 | #1553 | 8.7% | 31.1% | 26.5% | 1.0% | — |
| 2022 | 31 | 25 | #1570 | 13.6% | 34.1% | 23.7% | 0.6% | — |
| 2023 | 33 | 29 | #1526 | 14.1% | 44.6% | 20.6% | 0.6% | — |
| 2024 | 35 | 32 | #1466 | 23.3% | 37.8% | 18.3% | 1.1% | — |
| 2025 | 32 | 26 | #1589 | 16.0% | 34.9% | 19.6% | 0.8% | — |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 24.4% | 12.7% | -11.7pp |
| Male | 29.1% | 19.4% | -9.7pp |
| Black/African American | 27.3% | 22.0% | -5.3pp |
| White | 10.0% | 14.3% | +4.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 26.3% | 15.5% | -10.8pp |
| Two or More Races | 47.6% | 25.0% | -22.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 31.8% | 16.0% | -15.8pp |
| English Learners | 32.9% | 13.2% | -19.7pp |
| Homeless | 22.2% | 14.3% | -7.9pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 26.8% | 16.8% | -10.0pp |
| All Students | 26.5% | 16.2% | -10.3pp |
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