Summary
Independence Continuation is a small high school serving grades 9–12 in Diamond Springs, with 104 students, in El Dorado Union High School District. The clearest concern is chronic absenteeism: the school’s reported 2025–26 rate was 86%, compared with 18% statewide and 13% in the district, and nearby high schools ranged from 1.7% to 18.0%.
Test proficiency is also much lower than at nearby high schools, in the district, and statewide. In 2025–26, 18% of students were proficient in ELA, 0% in math, and 3% in science; each was the lowest reported result among the seven nearby high schools serving grades 9–12. Their average results were 72% in ELA, 47% in math, and 54% in science. Compared with the state, Independence was 32 points lower in ELA, 38 points lower in math, and 33 points lower in science. Graduation is a notable bright spot: the school’s 94% rate was 6 points above the state’s 88%, though 4 points below the district’s 98%; six of the seven nearby high schools had higher rates.
Results have declined overall since 2022–23: ELA fell 13 points to 18%, math fell 4 points to 0%, and science fell 17 points to 3% by 2025–26. Over that period, the gap with the state widened in all three subjects, most sharply in science, by 23 points. SchoolDigger ranks the school at the 11th percentile statewide, with one star, down from the 29th percentile in 2022–23; the district ranks at the 76th percentile and has four stars. The school’s 2024–25 student-teacher ratio was 17.6, below the nearby-school average of 23.3, while 64% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–25, compared with a 22% average at the seven nearby high schools. These are context measures, not explanations for student outcomes.
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