Portola-Butler Continuation High: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Portola-Butler Continuation posts low test scores — and test scores are one lens among several. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Grad rate | College readiness | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 21 | 5% | 13% | 71.2% | 0.0% | 53.4% | 5.2% |
| CA average · High School | 44 | 16% | 36% | 87.6% | 35.4% | 30.2% | 3.6% |
Portola-Butler Continuation High scores 21 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 11th 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 “13% proficient” and call it done. Portola-Butler Continuation deserves a closer read. The school sits in King City, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 11th percentile since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 13% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 28% | 17% | 7% | 31% | 19% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 7% |
The story this school is actually telling
Of 100 students here: 13 are proficient by 11th grade → 71 graduate → 0 pass an AP exam. The gaps between those bars are the questions to ask.
The 7 things our score weighs
Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.
- Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- 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 Portola-Butler Continuation High in King City, 18.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 52.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Portola-Butler Continuation High trails its district average for low-income students by 33.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (6.7% Math proficient); Hispanic students (16.7% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 32 students tested.
Showing up, and staying in class
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$14,943 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 115 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California high school (≈1450).
On the state's science test (CAST), 14% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Portola-Butler Continuation High a good high school?
What are Portola-Butler Continuation High's CAASPP test scores?
How does Portola-Butler Continuation High rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Portola-Butler Continuation High?
How does Portola-Butler Continuation High compare to other schools in King City?
How does Portola-Butler Continuation High serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby High Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 35
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 39
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 11 | 32 | 6% | 13% | 28% | 53% | 19% | −28 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 | 30 | 3% | 3% | 10% | 83% | 7% | −17 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 35 | 3% | 11% | 69% | 17% |
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 | 32 | 18.8% | −34 | −19 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 30 | 16.7% | −36 | −22 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portola-Butler Continuation High ← | — | 21 | 4.8% | 12.7% | — | 5.2% |
| King City High | 0.1 mi | 47 | 15.4% | 42.7% | — | 5.4% |
| Pinnacle Coastal Valley High | 0 mi | 24 | 4.3% | 17.4% | — | 2.0% |
| California average | — | 44 | 15.8% | 35.7% | — | 3.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 21 | 11 | #1809 | 0.0% | 14.0% | 37.7% | 9.3% | — |
| 2022 | 20 | 10 | #1893 | 0.0% | 8.3% | 44.9% | 2.0% | — |
| 2023 | 18 | 9 | #1955 | 0.0% | 3.7% | 45.6% | 3.1% | — |
| 2024 | 21 | 11 | #1901 | 0.0% | 15.5% | 49.3% | 1.8% | — |
| 2025 | 21 | 11 | #1933 | 4.8% | 12.7% | 53.4% | 5.2% | — |
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 19 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 60.0% | 79.4% | +19.4pp |
| Male | 38.0% | 55.4% | +17.4pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 43.3% | 63.6% | +20.3pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 70.0% | 67.7% | -2.3pp |
| English Learners | 50.0% | 64.1% | +14.1pp |
| Homeless | 53.8% | 69.2% | +15.4pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 42.2% | 63.8% | +21.6pp |
| All Students | 44.3% | 64.0% | +19.7pp |
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