McFarland Independent

McFarland Independent is an alternative public school located in McFarland, California, serving grades K-12 with a total enrollment of 14 students. The school is part of the McFarland Unified School District, which is ranked 1254 out of 1568 districts in California and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

McFarland Independent faces significant challenges, as evidenced by its low 58.8% four-year graduation rate, much lower than the state average, and a high 17.6% dropout rate. The school has also experienced concerning trends of high chronic absenteeism, ranging from 23.1% in 2017-2018 to a peak of 90.9% in 2020-2021. Academically, McFarland Independent's test scores are significantly lower than the state and district averages across various subjects and grade levels. For example, in the 2021-2022 school year, only 5% of McFarland Independent students were proficient or better in Smarter Balanced Assessments/Mathematics for End of Course, compared to 17.52% for the McFarland Unified School District and 33.38% for the state.

In contrast, the nearby Wonderful College Prep Academy, a public charter school, appears to be performing significantly better than McFarland Independent across various metrics, including a 100% four-year graduation rate, a 0% dropout rate, and generally outperforming the state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. This suggests that the educational model and resources available at Wonderful College Prep Academy may be more effective in supporting student success, even though both schools serve a high percentage of students from low-income families.