John F. Kennedy High: Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.
John F. Kennedy posts 57% meeting the standard, and 31.6% 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 | 61 | 32% | 57% | 99.6% | 59.2% | 19.3% | 2.4% |
| CA average · High School | 44 | 16% | 36% | 86.6% | 33.9% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
John F. Kennedy High scores 61 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 87th 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 →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “57% proficient” and call it done. John F. Kennedy deserves a closer read. The school sits in La Palma, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
John F. Kennedy's low-income kids hit 68.3% 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 held the 87th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 57% meet the standard today, versus 64% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 81% | 76% | 73% | 71% | 74% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 46% | 39% | 40% | 46% | 40% |
The story this school is actually telling
Of 100 students here: 57 are proficient by 11th grade → 100 graduate → 59 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
John F. Kennedy's most underrated number
68.3% 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 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 John F. Kennedy High in La Palma, 68.3% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 36.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. John F. Kennedy High outperforms its district average for low-income students by 31.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (33.0% Math proficient); Hispanic students (65.8% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 58.7 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 347 students tested.
● 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
Where they went after graduation
Of John F. Kennedy's class of 2023, 84% enrolled in college somewhere within a year — a CSU, a community college, a UC, or out of state.
Class of 2023: 497 completers, 84% 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, 38 of John F. Kennedy's 491 graduates enrolled in the University of California system — Riverside the most common landing, with 10 enrollees.
campuses never sum to the universitywide figure — students apply to several
Peak: 57 enrolled, 2022
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, 84% of this class's predecessors enrolled in college somewhere within a year. More of the class of 2023 enrolled at community colleges (269) than at UC (40).
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.
John F. Kennedy's teachers are authorized to teach 17 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 Computer Science A.
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
$720 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), 41% 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 John F. Kennedy High a good high school?
What are John F. Kennedy High's CAASPP test scores?
How does John F. Kennedy High rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at John F. Kennedy High?
How does John F. Kennedy High compare to other schools in La Palma?
How does John F. Kennedy High serve low-income and underrepresented students?
What AP courses are offered at John F. Kennedy High?
How many students from John F. Kennedy High go to UC?
Your other options
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 82
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 82
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 | 495 | 41% | 32% | 15% | 11% | 74% | +26 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 493 | 22% | 18% | 23% | 38% | 40% | +16 |
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 | 497 | 14% | 27% | 52% | 7% |
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 | 347 | 68.3% | +32 | +30 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 219 | 65.8% | +35 | +27 |
| Asian | 115 | 86.1% | +4 | +12 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy High ← | — | 61 | 31.6% | 56.6% | — | 2.4% |
| Whitney (Gretchen) High | 2.7 mi | 87 | 92.7% | 99.4% | — | 0.3% |
| Oxford Academy | 1.4 mi | 87 | 80.3% | 96.8% | — | 0.6% |
| Cerritos High | 2.2 mi | 71 | 42.3% | 72.3% | — | 0.9% |
| California average | — | 44 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 68 | 90 | #196 | 35.9% | 63.6% | 8.7% | 2.8% | — |
| 2022 | 62 | 88 | #262 | 27.8% | 57.6% | 18.5% | 3.1% | — |
| 2023 | 62 | 88 | #258 | 29.9% | 56.1% | 17.9% | 3.2% | — |
| 2024 | 62 | 88 | #267 | 30.2% | 58.8% | 18.4% | 3.2% | — |
| 2025 | 61 | 87 | #286 | 31.6% | 56.6% | 19.3% | 2.4% | — |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 8.7% | 17.8% | +9.1pp |
| Male | 7.7% | 19.9% | +12.2pp |
| Asian | 4.5% | 10.9% | +6.4pp |
| Black/African American | 9.5% | 22.7% | +13.2pp |
| White | 2.9% | 10.5% | +7.6pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.7% | 24.2% | +13.5pp |
| Pacific Islander | 0.0% | — | — |
| Two or More Races | 11.6% | 22.1% | +10.5pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 17.5% | 35.7% | +18.2pp |
| English Learners | 9.4% | 30.2% | +20.8pp |
| Homeless | 12.8% | 25.0% | +12.2pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 10.1% | 22.8% | +12.7pp |
| All Students | 8.2% | 18.9% | +10.7pp |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | — | 16.7% | — |
| Year | Applied | Admitted | Enrolled | GPA (applied) | GPA (admitted) | GPA (enrolled) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 140 | 107 | 38 | 3.79 | 3.82 | 3.94 |
| 2024 | 153 | 89 | 47 | 3.79 | 3.92 | 4.00 |
| 2023 | 122 | 72 | 41 | 3.83 | 3.98 | 4.09 |
| 2022 | 178 | 111 | 57 | 3.82 | 3.95 | 4.04 |
| 2021 | 133 | 84 | 47 | 3.79 | 3.92 | 4.00 |
| 2020 | 131 | 97 | 51 | 3.77 | 3.84 | 3.95 |
| 2019 | 183 | 104 | 56 | 3.66 | 3.83 | 3.93 |
| 2018 | 138 | 85 | 48 | 3.67 | 3.87 | 3.90 |
| 2017 | 150 | 99 | 53 | 3.59 | 3.77 | 3.83 |
| 2016 | 121 | 78 | 48 | 3.54 | 3.75 | 3.81 |
| 2015 | 165 | 87 | 47 | 3.58 | 3.79 | 3.92 |
| 2014 | 125 | 73 | 41 | 3.59 | 3.75 | 3.85 |
‹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 | 45 | 4 | 3 |
| Berkeley | 2024 | 64 | ‹3 | ‹3 |
| Berkeley | 2023 | 61 | 4 | ‹3 |
| Berkeley | 2022 | 79 | 14 | 8 |
| Berkeley | 2021 | 57 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2025 | 38 | 11 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2024 | 42 | 16 | 5 |
| Davis | 2023 | 34 | 15 | ‹3 |
| Davis | 2022 | 50 | 14 | 4 |
| Davis | 2021 | 41 | 16 | ‹3 |
| Irvine | 2025 | 129 | 16 | 7 |
| Irvine | 2024 | 136 | 26 | 13 |
| Irvine | 2023 | 110 | 29 | 18 |
| Irvine | 2022 | 151 | 35 | 12 |
| Irvine | 2021 | 116 | 29 | 11 |
| Los Angeles | 2025 | 95 | 6 | ‹3 |
| Los Angeles | 2024 | 109 | 6 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | 2023 | 96 | 7 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | 2022 | 132 | 11 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | 2021 | 89 | 12 | 9 |
| Merced | 2025 | 38 | 38 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2024 | 22 | 20 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2023 | 8 | 7 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2022 | 25 | 21 | ‹3 |
| Merced | 2021 | 18 | 17 | 3 |
| Riverside | 2025 | 91 | 87 | 10 |
| Riverside | 2024 | 69 | 51 | 11 |
| Riverside | 2023 | 52 | 39 | 8 |
| Riverside | 2022 | 86 | 61 | 12 |
| Riverside | 2021 | 66 | 47 | 10 |
| San Diego | 2025 | 92 | 16 | 5 |
| San Diego | 2024 | 101 | 18 | 8 |
| San Diego | 2023 | 91 | 18 | 3 |
| San Diego | 2022 | 129 | 25 | 9 |
| San Diego | 2021 | 79 | 24 | 5 |
| Santa Barbara | 2025 | 67 | 17 | 3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2024 | 72 | 19 | ‹3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2023 | 54 | 21 | 3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2022 | 86 | 20 | ‹3 |
| Santa Barbara | 2021 | 58 | 21 | 5 |
| Santa Cruz | 2025 | 28 | 20 | 5 |
| Santa Cruz | 2024 | 23 | 14 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2023 | 17 | 9 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2022 | 40 | 19 | ‹3 |
| Santa Cruz | 2021 | 16 | 5 | ‹3 |
| Universitywide | 2025 | 140 | 107 | 38 |
| Universitywide | 2024 | 153 | 89 | 47 |
| Universitywide | 2023 | 122 | 72 | 41 |
| Universitywide | 2022 | 178 | 111 | 57 |
| Universitywide | 2021 | 133 | 84 | 47 |
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 |
| 3-D Art and Design | this school |
| Art History | this school |
| Biology | this school |
| Calculus AB | this school |
| Calculus BC | this school |
| Chemistry | this school |
| Computer Science A | this school |
| Drawing | this school |
| English Language and Composition | this school |
| English Literature and Composition | this school |
| European History | this school |
| Psychology | 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 | 35 |
| AP enrollment | 578 |
| IB participation | offered · 169 enrolled |
| Dual enrollment | offered · 45 enrolled |
| Algebra I in grade 8 | not reported |
| Calculus sections | 3 |
| Physics sections | 15 |
| Chemistry sections | 21 |
| Total enrollment (CRDC) | 2,225 |
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 | 40 | 8.1% |
| California State University | 79 | 15.9% |
| California community college | 269 | 54.1% |
| In-state private | 17 | 3.4% |
| Out-of-state, 4-year | 10 | 2.0% |
| Out-of-state, 2-year | 2 | 0.4% |
| Not enrolled | 80 | 16.1% |
497 completers, class of 2023 · state-reported college-going rate 84% · % 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