How does El Cajon Valley High compare to other high schools in El Cajon?

El Cajon Valley High has a Scope Score of 31.6/100, ranked #1277 among California high schools. 6% of students exceed standard, with a total of 841 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at El Cajon Valley High?

5.8% of students at El Cajon Valley High exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 19.5% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at El Cajon Valley High?

29.2% of students at El Cajon Valley High are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days). This metric reflects school culture and family engagement, and is weighted at 15% in the Scope Score.

El Cajon Valley High

High School

Grossmont Union High El CajonSan Diego County92021

📍 1035 East Madison Avenue

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,649 California high schools

🌱

Building Momentum

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Scope Scores are SchoolScope's analysis of public data from the California Dept. of Education (CAASPP, chronic absenteeism, suspension rates). They are not official CDE ratings and should not be the sole basis for school decisions. See methodology.

School overview

Enrollment

1,672 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

111:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

93%

Teachers

15 full-time

College & career readiness

Graduation Rate

73.5%

AP Exam Prepared

46.3%

A-G Completion

35.8%

College-Going Rate

66.8%

Data source: California Department of Education — ACGR, CCI, CGR reports

Dashboard indicators

How this school's scores changed from last year to this year

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-3.1 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+5.3 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

7.1%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 648 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic43.6%

White35.4%

Asian6.2%

Black9.1%

Other5.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for El Cajon Valley High
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	5.8%
Met Standard	13.8%
Below Standard	80.5%

Score Factors

Helping

✓College readiness: 46.3%

AP exam pass rate above state avg (state avg 35.3%)

20% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 29.2%

5.1pp below state avg (state avg 34.3%)

10% weight

Holding Back

▼Graduation rate: 73.5%

13.9pp below state avg (state avg 87.4%)

25% weight

▼Exceeded standard: 5.8%

9.9pp below state avg (state avg 15.7%)

20% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 19.5%

15.2pp below state avg (state avg 34.8%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 19.5%

Below state baseline (state avg 34.8%)

5% weight

▼Suspension rate: 7.5%

3.4pp above state avg (state avg 4.1%)

5% weight

Unlike traditional school ratings, we show our work. Every factor, its weight, and how this school compares to the state average — so you can decide what matters most to your family. The high school Scope Score is weighted across 7 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "20% proficient" for El Cajon Valley High and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

5.8% of students exceeded standard while 13.8% met it. That exceeded rate is 9.9 points below the state average of 15.7%. That's 11.2 points below the Grossmont Union High district average of 16.9%. The 6 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 11.4% exceeded — 5.6 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

The graduation rate is 73.5%. 35.8% of students complete A-G requirements for UC/CSU eligibility. 66.8% of graduates go on to college within a year.

Chronic absenteeism is 29.2%, better than the state average of 34.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means