Summary:
Delano Joint Union High includes four high schools in Delano, all serving grades 9–12, with enrollment ranging from 71 to 1,394 students. The schools’ results vary widely, and the most important distinction is that Valley High trails the other three in test scores, graduation, and attendance.
Delano High leads in 2025–26 ELA, with 71% proficient, while Cesar E. Chavez High leads in math at 41% and science at 42%. Chavez’s math and science results are 18 and 17 points above the other schools’ averages in those subjects. Valley is lowest in all three: 27% in ELA, 0% in math, and 4% in science—43, 36, and 34 points below the other schools’ respective averages. Its graduation rate is 84%, compared with 98%–99% at the other schools, and its chronic absenteeism is 77%, versus the state’s 18%.
Results improved overall from 2024–25 to 2025–26: the four-school ELA average rose 5 points, and math rose 4 points, though the math average remains 11 points below the state. All three larger schools improved in every subject with results in both years; Valley’s math stayed at 0%. SchoolDigger gives Chavez and Robert F. Kennedy High 4 stars, Delano 3, and Valley 1. Chavez’s rank-history percentile rose from 71 to 77, and Valley’s from 6 to 18. Valley also has the lowest student-teacher ratio, 11.6, and highest reported per-student spending, $71,457. For 2024–25, free/reduced lunch eligible shares range from 86% to 93% across the schools; these figures are context, not an explanation for results.
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