Independence High: English learners reach fluency faster than the state rate. But suspensions run 2× the state rate.
Independence has real strengths and one number that complicates them. Most rating sites show you one or the other. Both belong on the same page.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Grad rate | College readiness | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54 | 19% | 43% | 92.9% | 36.1% | 15.7% | 8.4% |
| CA average · High School | 47 | 16% | 36% | 86.6% | 33.9% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
Independence High scores 54 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 64th 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 “43% proficient” and call it done. Independence deserves a closer read. The school sits in Bakersfield, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Independence's low-income kids hit 64.9% 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
Climbed from the 56th to the 64th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 100 high schools.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 43% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 65% | 61% | 59% | 60% | 66% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 20% | 20% | 17% | 18% | 19% |
The story this school is actually telling
of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.
of students were suspended, versus 3.6% statewide — a school visit will tell you more than this number.
Of 100 students here: 43 are proficient by 11th grade → 93 graduate → 36 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
Independence's most underrated number
64.9% 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 about the discipline philosophy and what a typical suspension is for. Numbers can't tell you whether a campus feels strict or chaotic — a visit can.
- Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At Independence High in Bakersfield, 64.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 47.2% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Independence High outperforms its district average for low-income students by 17.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (17.0% Math proficient); Hispanic students (64.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 38.5 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 439 students tested.
5 of 16 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
● 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 graduates go
Where they went after graduation
Of Independence's class of 2023, 57% enrolled in college somewhere within a year — a CSU, a community college, a UC, or out of state.
Class of 2023: 581 completers, 57% 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.
In fall 2025, 20 of Independence's 496 graduates enrolled in the University of California system — Santa Barbara the most common landing, with 7 enrollees.
5 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
Peak: 34 enrolled, 2016
UC publishes this trend back to 1994 — no other destination has a comparable multi-year record
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, 57% of this class's predecessors enrolled in college somewhere within a year. More of the class of 2023 enrolled at community colleges (181) than at UC (27).
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.
Independence's teachers are authorized to teach 2 of the 40 AP subjects the College Board offers — including Calculus AB and Environmental Science.
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
$922 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
At 2,324 students, this school is well above the typical California high school (≈1450).
On the state's science test (CAST), 37% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Independence High a good high school?
What are Independence High's CAASPP test scores?
How does Independence High rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Independence High?
How does Independence High compare to other schools in Bakersfield?
How does Independence High serve low-income and underrepresented students?
What AP courses are offered at Independence High?
How many students from Independence High go to UC?
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.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and nearest schools.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 581 | 31% | 36% | 18% | 15% | 66% | +18 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 578 | 7% | 12% | 25% | 56% | 19% | −5 |
We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, no valid result was published, or the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schoolwide | 588 | 7% | 30% | 58% | 5% |
CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 439 | 64.9% | +18 | +27 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 373 | 64.3% | +16 | +25 |
| White | 88 | 69.3% | +9 | +8 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Grade gap | Cohort growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence High ← | — | 54 | 18.7% | 42.6% | — | — | 8.4% |
| California average | — | 47 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Grade gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 51 | 56 | #902 | 16.0% | 42.5% | 11.0% | 8.0% | — |
| 2022 | 52 | 62 | #797 | 18.1% | 40.7% | 24.9% | 6.2% | — |
| 2023 | 51 | 57 | #920 | 14.7% | 37.8% | 17.5% | 6.6% | — |
| 2024 | 50 | 57 | #926 | 15.1% | 39.1% | 14.2% | 7.9% | — |
| 2025 | 54 | 64 | #778 | 18.7% | 42.6% | 15.7% | 8.4% | — |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 12.5% | 15.3% | +2.8pp |
| Male | 8.6% | 15.2% | +6.6pp |
| Asian | 10.9% | 15.8% | +4.9pp |
| Black/African American | 13.6% | 20.3% | +6.7pp |
| White | 2.4% | 8.1% | +5.7pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.1% | 14.9% | +5.8pp |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 5.3% | 37.5% | +32.2pp |
| Two or More Races | 11.6% | 21.2% | +9.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 15.5% | 21.1% | +5.6pp |
| English Learners | 11.2% | 19.6% | +8.4pp |
| Foster Youth | 20.5% | 47.5% | +27.0pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 11.4% | 16.4% | +5.0pp |
| All Students | 10.5% | 15.3% | +4.8pp |
| Filipino | — | 19.8% | — |
| Pacific Islander | — | 9.1% | — |
| Homeless | — | 27.8% | — |
| Year | Applied | Admitted | Enrolled | GPA (applied) | GPA (admitted) | GPA (enrolled) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 47 | 37 | 20 | 3.79 | 3.91 | 4.02 |
| 2024 | 61 | 42 | 15 | 3.84 | 3.94 | 4.02 |
| 2023 | 74 | 49 | 28 | 3.80 | 3.99 | 4.08 |
| 2022 | 69 | 52 | 27 | 3.98 | 4.06 | 4.16 |
| 2021 | 78 | 50 | 21 | 3.77 | 3.95 | 4.04 |
| 2020 | 41 | 32 | 14 | 3.86 | 3.98 | 3.99 |
| 2019 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 3.79 | 4.00 | 3.86 |
| 2018 | 48 | 23 | 15 | 3.60 | 3.91 | 3.99 |
| 2017 | 49 | 29 | 17 | 3.71 | 3.94 | 3.98 |
| 2016 | 71 | 50 | 34 | 3.71 | 3.81 | 3.87 |
| 2015 | 59 | 32 | 21 | 3.68 | 3.92 | 4.04 |
| 2014 | 52 | 33 | 18 | 3.73 | 3.89 | 3.88 |
‹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 | 31 | 4 | ‹3 |
| Berkeley | 2023 | 36 | 7 | 5 |
| Berkeley | 2022 | 29 | 6 | 4 |
| Berkeley | 2021 | 36 | 6 | 4 |
| Davis | 2025 | 20 | 8 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2024 | 23 | 12 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2023 | 22 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2022 | 25 | 12 | 4 |
| Davis | 2021 | 33 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2025 | 26 | 7 | 3 |
| Irvine | 2024 | 38 | 5 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2023 | 39 | 5 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2022 | 34 | 9 | 4 |
| Irvine | 2021 | 50 | 7 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2025 | 24 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2024 | 36 | 4 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | 2023 | 49 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2022 | 43 | 4 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2021 | 39 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2025 | 28 | 28 | 3 |
| Merced | 2024 | 16 | 16 | 3 |
| Merced | 2023 | 18 | 15 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2022 | 22 | 21 | 4 |
| Merced | 2021 | 34 | 24 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2025 | 20 | 16 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2024 | 18 | 13 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2023 | 21 | 17 | 6 |
| Riverside | 2022 | 11 | 8 | ‹3 |
| Riverside | 2021 | 18 | 9 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2025 | 25 | 9 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2024 | 35 | 6 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2023 | 44 | 6 | ‹3 |
| San Diego | 2022 | 38 | 15 | 4 |
| San Diego | 2021 | 33 | 12 | 4 |
| Santa Barbara | 2025 | 19 | 14 | 7 |
| Santa Barbara | 2024 | 39 | 16 | ‹3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2023 | 36 | 14 | 7 |
| Santa Barbara | 2022 | 34 | 19 | 3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2021 | 40 | 14 | 3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2025 | 7 | 3 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2024 | 24 | 13 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2023 | 28 | 14 | 3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2022 | 14 | 7 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2021 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Universitywide | 2025 | 47 | 37 | 20 |
| Universitywide | 2024 | 61 | 42 | 15 |
| Universitywide | 2023 | 74 | 49 | 28 |
| Universitywide | 2022 | 69 | 52 | 27 |
| Universitywide | 2021 | 78 | 50 | 21 |
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 |
|---|---|
| Calculus AB | this school |
| Environmental Science | 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 | 12 |
| AP enrollment | 757 |
| IB participation | not offered |
| Dual enrollment | offered · 361 enrolled |
| Algebra I in grade 8 | not reported |
| Calculus sections | 3 |
| Physics sections | 3 |
| Chemistry sections | 10 |
| Total enrollment (CRDC) | 2,350 |
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 | 27 | 4.7% |
| California State University | 89 | 15.3% |
| California community college | 181 | 31.1% |
| In-state private | 8 | 1.4% |
| Out-of-state, 4-year | 22 | 3.8% |
| Out-of-state, 2-year | 3 | 0.5% |
| Not enrolled | 251 | 43.2% |
581 completers, class of 2023 · state-reported college-going rate 57% · % 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.
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