Merced Union High

The Merced Union High district has nine high schools serving grades 9–12, with reported enrollment of 11,061; six are comprehensive schools, alongside a continuation school, an alternative school, and Sequoia High. Eight schools have reported test scores; Sequoia has none in this data set. The clearest area-wide challenge is math: the eight-school average was 14% proficient, compared with 38% statewide, a gap of 25 percentage points—the largest in any subject.

Buhach Colony High leads in all three subjects, with 53% proficiency in ELA, 25% in math, and 32% in science; it is also the only school above the state in any subject, scoring 53% in ELA versus 49% statewide. El Capitan High is second in ELA at 48%, close to the state result. Results at the low end differ by subject: Yosemite High (Continuation) has the lowest ELA and science scores, at 8% and 4%, while Independence High (Alternative) has the lowest math score, at 2%. Yosemite also stands apart from the comprehensive schools in graduation and attendance: its graduation rate was 74% and chronic absenteeism was 88%.

Overall scores moved upward between the two reported years, but individual schools varied: the eight-school averages rose by 1 point in ELA, 3 in math, and 4 in science; math improved at seven schools, while ELA improved at four. Livingston High improved in all three subjects, including 11 points in science, while Buhach gained 10 points in math. SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking percentile also rose for Buhach, from the 39th to the 55th, and for Yosemite, from the 3rd to the 12th; Yosemite’s ranking gain coexists with low current scores. Among comprehensive schools, free/reduced lunch eligible shares for 2024–25 ranged from 76% at El Capitan to 86% at Livingston; Buhach’s was 79%. Staffing figures also do not neatly track scores: Buhach’s student-teacher ratio was 22.5, compared with 20.6 at Atwater High. These figures offer context, not explanations for schools’ results.