Buena High: This school runs ahead of the state average. The bar itself is the harder conversation.
Buena posts 38% meeting the standard against 36% statewide — ahead of most, with real headroom above the bar.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Grad rate | College readiness | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47 | 14% | 38% | 94.3% | 34.6% | 15.9% | 1.0% |
| CA average · High School | 44 | 16% | 36% | 86.6% | 33.9% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
Buena High scores 47 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 56th 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 “38% proficient” and call it done. Buena deserves a closer read. The school sits in Ventura, where three in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Buena's low-income kids hit 49.2% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 56th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 38% meet the standard today, versus 43% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 54% | 57% | 56% | 54% | 55% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 33% | 22% | 22% | 23% | 21% |
The story this school is actually telling
Of 100 students here: 38 are proficient by 11th grade → 94 graduate → 35 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
Buena's most underrated number
49.2% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 7 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 extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- 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 Buena High in Ventura, 49.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 36.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Buena High outperforms its district average for low-income students by 12.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (13.7% Math proficient); Hispanic students (48.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 46.0 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 195 students tested.
6 of 15 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
In the 2020-21 federal collection — the newest there is — English learners students were 23% of Buena's enrollment but 3% of its AP seats; ask the school what's changed since.
● share of AP enrollment vs share of total enrollment, this school only · not part of the Scope Score
Data source: U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, 2020-21 (biennial; newest published)
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
Where graduates go
In fall 2025, 15 of Buena's 347 graduates enrolled in the University of California system — Santa Barbara the most common landing, with 4 enrollees.
7 of 9 campuses are masked below UC's privacy floor — a protection, not a verdict.
campuses never sum to the universitywide figure — students apply to several
Class of 2023: 394 completers, 82% enrolled somewhere within a year
Percentages are computed by SchoolScope (count ÷ completers) from CDE-reported counts, not a CDE-native rate.
Data source: California Department of Education, 2023 cohort — the newest published; National Student Clearinghouse match.
Peak: 21 enrolled, 2017
UC is one road of many — the full destination mix for the class of 2023 is below. And who applied isn't who the school taught: the ratio between the two reflects the self-selected pool of students who chose to apply, not what happened in the classroom. By the state's 2023 count, 82% of this class's predecessors enrolled in college somewhere within a year. More of the class of 2023 enrolled at community colleges (247) than at UC (16).
Data source: University of California Office of the President (UC Information Center), fall 2025 admissions cycle · college-going rate: California Department of Education, 2023 cohort.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
Buena's teachers are authorized to teach 21 of the 40 AP subjects the College Board offers — above the 14-subject median among California schools that offer AP at all — including Calculus BC, Calculus AB, and Physics 1.
Data source: College Board AP Course Audit, 2025 - 2026 audit year (authorization, not enrollment) · IB World Schools directory, name-matched · structural depth: 2020-21 federal snapshot, table 09
What gets spent here
$846 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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
On the state's science test (CAST), 27% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Buena High a good high school?
What are Buena High's CAASPP test scores?
How does Buena High rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Buena High?
How does Buena High compare to other schools in Ventura?
How does Buena High serve low-income and underrepresented students?
What AP courses are offered at Buena High?
How many students from Buena High go to UC?
Your other options
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 49
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 58
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 11 | 331 | 22% | 33% | 26% | 20% | 55% | +7 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 332 | 6% | 15% | 22% | 57% | 21% | −3 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 344 | 6% | 22% | 66% | 7% |
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 | 195 | 49.2% | +12 | +11 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 202 | 48.5% | +10 | +10 |
| White | 105 | 63.8% | +0 | +2 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena High ← | — | 47 | 13.9% | 37.7% | — | 1.0% |
| Foothill Technology High | 0.5 mi | 67 | 39.6% | 68.7% | — | 0.7% |
| El Camino High | 0.5 mi | 53 | 27.9% | 52.9% | — | 0.7% |
| Pacific High | 1.6 mi | 27 | 2.5% | 12.7% | — | 7.5% |
| California average | — | 44 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 51 | 60 | #809 | 18.0% | 43.4% | 9.3% | 4.7% | — |
| 2022 | 47 | 60 | #837 | 14.7% | 39.3% | 25.5% | 3.6% | — |
| 2023 | 48 | 62 | #820 | 15.6% | 39.1% | 21.6% | 1.5% | — |
| 2024 | 47 | 60 | #860 | 14.3% | 38.3% | 21.7% | 1.5% | — |
| 2025 | 47 | 56 | #951 | 13.9% | 37.7% | 15.9% | 1.0% | — |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 8.2% | 16.6% | +8.4pp |
| Male | 9.0% | 13.9% | +4.9pp |
| Asian | 1.9% | 14.7% | +12.8pp |
| Black/African American | 13.8% | 17.4% | +3.6pp |
| White | 0.0% | 0.0% | +0.0pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 8.3% | 16.5% | +8.2pp |
| Two or More Races | 13.8% | 10.7% | -3.1pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 16.5% | 25.7% | +9.2pp |
| English Learners | 6.4% | 20.1% | +13.7pp |
| Foster Youth | 30.0% | — | — |
| Homeless | 16.5% | 33.3% | +16.8pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 12.1% | 19.9% | +7.8pp |
| All Students | 8.6% | 15.2% | +6.6pp |
| Year | Applied | Admitted | Enrolled | GPA (applied) | GPA (admitted) | GPA (enrolled) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 52 | 39 | 15 | 3.77 | 3.90 | 4.01 |
| 2024 | 51 | 34 | 14 | 3.72 | 3.83 | 4.03 |
| 2023 | 65 | 39 | 16 | 3.71 | 3.87 | 3.91 |
| 2022 | 68 | 37 | 10 | 3.87 | 4.12 | 4.25 |
| 2021 | 71 | 42 | 11 | 3.76 | 3.92 | 4.10 |
| 2020 | 43 | 28 | 9 | 3.70 | 3.94 | 4.11 |
| 2019 | 56 | 30 | 11 | 3.76 | 3.95 | 4.05 |
| 2018 | 50 | 34 | 19 | 3.86 | 3.98 | 3.97 |
| 2017 | 51 | 33 | 21 | 3.90 | 4.08 | 4.12 |
| 2016 | 61 | 42 | 19 | 3.75 | 3.91 | 3.98 |
| 2015 | 48 | 26 | 15 | 3.79 | 4.00 | 4.03 |
| 2014 | 55 | 33 | 19 | 3.81 | 3.96 | 4.02 |
‹n = UC masks counts below n · a missing year means zero or masked — never assume zero · GPA cells blank for years with more than one contributing CEEB code (a summed GPA would be fabricated math) · GPAs live here and nowhere else on this page · Applied/Admitted/Enrolled reflect who applied, not what the school taught — no admit rate is computed or implied by this table. Series shown from 2014; full record to 1994 at the UC Infocenter.
| Campus | Year | Applied | Admitted | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 2025 | 20 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Berkeley | 2024 | 21 | 5 | ‹3 |
| Berkeley | 2023 | 19 | 4 | 3 |
| Berkeley | 2022 | 27 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Berkeley | 2021 | 19 | 3 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2025 | 16 | 7 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2024 | 19 | 6 | 3 |
| Davis | 2023 | 28 | 9 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2022 | 31 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2021 | 35 | 14 | 3 |
| Irvine | 2025 | 31 | 3 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2024 | 17 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2023 | 35 | 4 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2022 | 35 | 5 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2021 | 34 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2025 | 27 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2024 | 30 | 3 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | 2023 | 34 | 3 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2022 | 36 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2021 | 37 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2025 | 13 | 13 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2024 | 10 | 10 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2023 | 9 | 8 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2022 | 9 | 9 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2021 | 16 | 14 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2025 | 26 | 21 | 3 |
| Riverside | 2024 | 12 | 8 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2023 | 10 | 5 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2022 | 11 | 7 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2021 | 16 | 7 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2025 | 29 | 5 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2024 | 26 | 6 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2023 | 34 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2022 | 37 | 5 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2021 | 33 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2025 | 35 | 13 | 4 |
| Santa Barbara | 2024 | 35 | 13 | 3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2023 | 47 | 13 | 5 |
| Santa Barbara | 2022 | 43 | 12 | 3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2021 | 56 | 12 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2025 | 26 | 19 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2024 | 19 | 12 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2023 | 29 | 15 | 4 |
| Santa Cruz | 2022 | 25 | 11 | 3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2021 | 36 | 19 | ‹3 |
| Universitywide | 2025 | 52 | 39 | 15 |
| Universitywide | 2024 | 51 | 34 | 14 |
| Universitywide | 2023 | 65 | 39 | 16 |
| Universitywide | 2022 | 68 | 37 | 10 |
| Universitywide | 2021 | 71 | 42 | 11 |
Σ campuses ≠ universitywide — students apply to several campuses; the Universitywide row (muted) is its own independent count, never a sum of the rows above it.
| Subject | Taught by |
|---|---|
| 2-D Art and Design | this school |
| Biology | this school |
| Calculus AB | this school |
| Calculus BC | this school |
| Chemistry | this school |
| Computer Science A | this school |
| Computer Science Principles | this school |
| Drawing | this school |
| English Language and Composition | this school |
| English Literature and Composition | this school |
| Environmental Science | this school |
| European History | this school |
| French Language and Culture | this school |
| Human Geography | this school |
| Microeconomics | this school |
| Physics 1 | this school |
| Seminar | this school |
| Spanish Language and Culture | this school |
| Statistics | this school |
| U.S. Government and Politics | this school |
| United States History | this school |
Authorization ≠ a section running this year — the Ledger records what the school may teach, not seat counts.
| Measure | This school |
|---|---|
| AP offered | offered |
| AP course count | 19 |
| AP enrollment | 413 |
| IB participation | not offered |
| Dual enrollment | offered · 4 enrolled |
| Algebra I in grade 8 | not reported |
| Calculus sections | 0 |
| Physics sections | 1 |
| Chemistry sections | 7 |
| Total enrollment (CRDC) | 1,853 |
Shown, never scored — no entry to any composite. NULL/reserve codes render "not reported," never a fabricated zero. The equity block above this table (§4) is the per-subgroup view of this same collection.
| Destination | Completers | % (derived) |
|---|---|---|
| University of California | 16 | 4.1% |
| California State University | 27 | 6.8% |
| California community college | 247 | 62.7% |
| In-state private | 10 | 2.5% |
| Out-of-state, 4-year | 17 | 4.3% |
| Out-of-state, 2-year | 4 | 1.0% |
| Not enrolled | 73 | 18.5% |
394 completers, class of 2023 · state-reported college-going rate 82% · % column is computed by SchoolScope (count ÷ completers), not a CDE-native rate · a missing cell is CDE suppression, never a fabricated zero · source: CDE 12-mo CGR, 2023 cohort (the newest published), National Student Clearinghouse match — a different, older vintage than the fall 2025 UC admissions rows in tables 06-07 above.
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