Summary
Frontier High (Continuation) is a 364-student school serving grades 9–12 in Whittier, within the Whittier Union High district. Its latest test results are far below state, district and nearby-school levels, while its graduation and attendance outcomes raise additional concerns. Most concerning, 70% of students were chronically absent in 2025–26—the highest rate among Frontier and the nine nearby schools—and its latest graduation rate, 58%, was the lowest among nearby schools reporting a rate.
Frontier’s results are weakest in science and ELA compared with nearby schools, and low across all three tested subjects. In 2025–26, proficiency was 20% in ELA, 7% in math and 4% in science. The nearby-school averages were 57%, 31% and 32%, respectively; Frontier scored below every nearby school in ELA, above only two in math, and above only Ruben Salazar Continuation in science. Compared with the state, Frontier was behind by 29 points in ELA, 31 in math and 32 in science; compared with its district, the gaps were 46, 34 and 41 points. Its 70% chronic absenteeism rate also exceeded the state’s 18% and district’s 21% by 52 and 50 points.
ELA and math have improved from 2022–23, rising 7 points each by 2025–26, but science fell 3 points, and all three subjects remain well behind comparison results. SchoolDigger rates Frontier at the 16th percentile with 1 star in 2025–26, second-lowest among the 10 nearby schools; that is up from the 8th percentile and 0 stars the prior year. Frontier’s 13.2-to-1 student-teacher ratio in 2024–25 was the lowest nearby, compared with a nearby average of 21.2. It reported 72% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–25, below the nearby-school average of 77%; this is context, not an explanation for outcomes. SchoolDigger’s historical student-group rankings also stand out: Disabled Students ranked at the 61st percentile in 2021–22, compared with the school’s overall 16th percentile that year, while the English Language Learner Students ranking fell from the 28th percentile in 2022–23 to the 2nd percentile in 2023–24.
Thank you for your feedback!