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Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter

Public, Charter Grades 12

Summary

Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter is a public charter high school located in Freedom, California, serving 167 students in 12th grade. The school is part of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education district, which is ranked 1,333 out of 1,565 districts in the state.

Despite the school's relatively high per-student spending, ranging from $18,169 to $24,407 in recent years, Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter has consistently low academic performance compared to the state and nearby schools like Soquel High and Aptos High. The school ranked 2,028 out of 2,309 California high schools in the 2024-2025 school year, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Its performance is particularly low for subgroups, ranking in the bottom 10-15% of California high schools for female, male, and Hispanic students.

The school's graduation and dropout rates have also been highly variable, with the four-year graduation rate ranging from 57.8% to 86.4% and the dropout rate ranging from 8.2% to 77.7% in recent years. Additionally, Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter has high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 0.3% to 24.9%, significantly higher than the state average and most nearby schools. While the school has a relatively low percentage of free and reduced-price lunch recipients, its student-teacher ratio is on the higher end, ranging from 19.8 to 23.2 in recent years.

207

Students ?

27.4

Student/teacher ratio ?

$24,407

Per pupil spending ?

12.1%

Free/discounted lunch ?

229 Green Valley Rd.
Freedom, CA 95019

(831) 466-5697

District: Santa Cruz County Office of Education

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

77.8%

White:

21.3%

Asian:

0.5%

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At a glance

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (0% vs 33% meeting standards)

!Graduation rate below the California average (22% vs 88%)

!Dropout rate above the California average (78% vs 8%)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school0%

District avg14%

California avg33%

Not ranked this year

Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter did not have enough recent test-score data to be ranked. Check the trend below for past years.

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Schools Near Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)					Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter	Public, Charter	12	229 Green Valley Rd.	Freedom	95019	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 466-5697	207	8	27.4	12.1%	44 (21.3%)	0 (0.0%)	161 (77.8%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)								(n/a)			0.0	0.0											$24,407	$1,409	$22,998
Diamond Technology Institute	Public, Charter	9-12	112 Diamond Dr.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6225	87	5	17.0	77.0%	4 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (93.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	65.4	683^rd of 2162 public high schools	68.4%		78.8	426^th of 2159 public high schools	80.3%	257		66.7		66.7				66.7	66.7				7.1	7.1
New School Community Day	Public	9-12	165 Harkins Slough Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 761-6140	42	4	10.5	95.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7.9	2125^th of 2162 public high schools	1.7%		8.1	2159^th of 2159 public high schools	0.0%	34								6.7	6.7				0.0	0.0
Pajaro Valley High	Public	9-12	500 Harkins Slough Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-8102	1,293	60	21.6	84.3%	23 (1.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1,253 (96.9%)	11 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	34.1	1397^th of 2162 public high schools	35.4%		38.3	1287^th of 2159 public high schools	40.4%	110			15.3	15.3				40.0	40.0				8.9	8.9
Watsonville High	Public	9-12	250 East Beach St.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6390	2,215	94	23.5	91.1%	52 (2.3%)	5 (0.2%)	2,136 (96.4%)	16 (0.7%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.1%)	38.4	1303^rd of 2162 public high schools	39.7%		31.2	1464^th of 2159 public high schools	32.2%	161			13.5	13.5				38.9	38.9				19.9	19.9
Ceiba College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	260 West Riverside Dr.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Ceiba College Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 786-2100	501	31	16.3	76.4%	11 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	484 (96.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	80.7	397^th of 2162 public high schools	81.6%		50.3	990^th of 2159 public high schools	54.1%	593	8.2	55.1	29.6	26.6	25.0	34.9	33.3	71.4	37.6	27.1	48.8	25.6	36.7	34.3	$18,004	$3,134	$14,870
Renaissance High Continuation	Public	9-12	11 Spring Valley Rd.	La Selva Beach	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6344	112	16	7.2	92.9%	4 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	105 (93.8%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9	2068^th of 2162 public high schools	4.3%		11.4	1980^th of 2159 public high schools	8.3%	88			0.0	0.0				4.6	4.6				1.5	1.5
Aptos High	Public	9-12	100 Mariner Way	Aptos	95003	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-7832	1,274	58	21.9	47.6%	511 (40.1%)	4 (0.3%)	676 (53.1%)	26 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	51 (4.0%)	64.6	696^th of 2162 public high schools	67.8%		71.2	548^th of 2159 public high schools	74.6%	148			35.4	35.4				46.5	46.5				30.8	30.8
Delta Charter	Public, Charter	9-12	6500 Soquel Dr. Bldg. 1190	Aptos	95003	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz City High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 477-5212	113	9	13.2	38.9%	59 (52.2%)	1 (0.9%)	43 (38.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (5.3%)	24.5	1605^th of 2162 public high schools	25.8%		30.1	1486^th of 2159 public high schools	31.2%	119		12.2	18.9	15.4				24.4	24.4				2.4	2.4	$13,012	$383	$12,629
Soquel High	Public	9-12	401 Old San Jose Rd.	Soquel	95073	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 429-3909	1,074	54	19.9	29.1%	510 (47.5%)	7 (0.7%)	424 (39.5%)	17 (1.6%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	113 (10.5%)	80	411^th of 2162 public high schools	81.0%		77.4	448^th of 2159 public high schools	79.2%	37		50.4	31.9	40.6				72.5	72.5				34.2	34.2	$18,421	$2,017	$16,404

Frequently Asked Questions about Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter

How many students attend Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter?

In the 2024-25 school year, 207 students attended Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter.

What district is Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter in?

Santa Cruz County Office of Education

What is the racial makeup of Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter?

Students at Santa Cruz County Career Advancement Charter are 78% Hispanic, 21% White.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.