How does Southwest Senior High compare to other high schools in San Diego?

Southwest Senior High has a Scope Score of 60.1/100, ranked #659 among California high schools. 10% of students exceed standard, with a total of 739 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Southwest Senior High?

9.6% of students at Southwest Senior High exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 32.8% 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 Southwest Senior High?

18.9% of students at Southwest Senior 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.

Southwest Senior High

High School

Sweetwater Union High San DiegoSan Diego County92154

📍 1685 Hollister Street

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

1,586 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

22:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

86%

Teachers

71 full-time

College & career readiness

Graduation Rate

96.1%

AP Exam Prepared

74.3%

A-G Completion

60.2%

College-Going Rate

69.9%

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 Significantly

-21.8 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased Significantly

+21.5 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

15.5%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 530 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic86.1%

White8.3%

Asian0.1%

Black1.5%

Other4.0%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Southwest Senior High
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	9.6%
Met Standard	23.2%
Below Standard	67.2%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Graduation rate: 96.1%

8.7pp above state avg (state avg 87.4%)

25% weight

✓College readiness: 74.3%

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

20% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 18.9%

15.4pp below state avg (state avg 34.3%)

10% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 9.6%

6.1pp below state avg (state avg 15.7%)

20% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 32.8%

2.0pp below state avg (state avg 34.8%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 32.8%

Below state baseline (state avg 34.8%)

5% weight

▼Suspension rate: 6.0%

1.9pp 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 "33% proficient" for Southwest Senior High and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

9.6% of students exceeded standard while 23.2% met it. That exceeded rate is 6.1 points below the state average of 15.7%. That's 7.6 points below the Sweetwater Union High district average of 17.1%. The 6 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 12.1% exceeded — 2.5 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

The graduation rate is 96.1% — above the state target. 60.2% of students complete A-G requirements for UC/CSU eligibility — a strong college readiness signal. 69.9% of graduates go on to college within a year.

Chronic absenteeism is 18.9%, better than the state average of 34.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

9.6%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

32.8%

Students meeting standard

Chronic Absenteeism

18.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

6.0%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

739

Across all grades & subjects

ELA scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
11th	374	12.8%	29.1%	27.0%	31.0%	42.0%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
11th	365	6.3%	17.3%	20.0%	56.4%	23.6%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

No feeder data available for this level

▼

Middle

Also serves area

▼

High School

Southwest Senior High

60.1# in state

This school

Feeder patterns derived from 2015-16 NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries may have changed. Contact your school district for current information.