[quote=bearishgurl][quote=cvmom]…I think you missed Canyon Crest Academy (in San Dieguito district), it got 910. This one is of big personal interest to me, as we have to decide on a high school for my kid this year, Canyon Crest vs. Torrey Pines.[/quote]

Thank you cvmom. Is Canyon Crest Academy a charter or alternative school? I think I missed it because I may have thought it was. What is the student population there?[/quote]

Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) is neither charter nor alternative (although I’m not positive what you mean by alternative). It’s one of several public high schools in the San Dieguito Union High School district. For many years, it was overshadowed by the biggie within our district, Torrey Pines High School (TPHS) and its reputation, but last year CCA’s API score surpassed TPHS and this year it looks like CCA’s lead (in API scores only – this is not a value judgment on the greater worth of each school) has grown.

CCA operates on a block schedule so it’s pretty intense, which maybe attracts students who are more driven. Students take 4 classes during each of two semesters for a total of 8 classes per year whereas TPHS kids are on a more typical high school schedule and take 6 classes that last an entire year. Obviously there are pros and cons to both – kids at CCA get the opportunity to take a lot of electives and can also generally advance further faster in a subject, but the downside is that there’s a lot to cram into their brains (especially in AP classes) in such a short time.

CCA offers a conservatory arts program so it attracts a lot of kids interested in music, art, dance and drama. CCA does not have a football team (but does have other competitive sports teams that students turn out for), but for some, having a football team to cheer for is a must.

CCA has only been open for about 5 years (or maybe it’s 6 now, I can’t recall) and is available to families within the SDUHSD district by lottery. For years, every kid who wanted to get in to CCA got in, but the last two years, they’ve had to turn kids away because the lottery was oversubscribed.

We’ve had two kids at CCA, both have loved it, and we’ve been extremely impressed by the caliber of teaching and programs, as well as students. They’re not only good students but honestly seem very well-rounded, many involved in some type of athletic pursuit and/or art/music/drama and are pretty open-minded and accepting kids…in other words, there doesn’t seem to be a certain “type” of CCA student. Intellectual curiosity is encouraged, and kids are very high achieving…probably partly because of parental influence and partly because it’s who they are. This probably contributes to high API scores. We feel fortunate to have access to such a great public school (and I’m not categorizing it as “great” based on its API score!)