Summary:
ZIP code 91789 has two high schools in Walnut Valley Unified: Walnut High and Ron Hockwalt Academies (Continuation); both serve grades 9–12. Their sizes differ sharply: Walnut High enrolls 2,148 students, while Ron Hockwalt enrolls 36. The most important difference for families is that their reported graduation, dropout, and chronic-absenteeism outcomes vary widely.
Walnut High stands out on the available academic and completion measures: in 2025–26, 80% of students were proficient in ELA, 62% in math, and 60% in science, compared with state rates of 49%, 38%, and 36%; its graduation rate was 98%. By contrast, Ron Hockwalt Academies (Continuation) had a 71% graduation rate, 21% dropout rate, and 48% chronic absenteeism, versus 1% dropout and 10% chronic absenteeism at Walnut High. Ron Hockwalt’s test percentages are state-suppressed, so its academic performance cannot be compared here.
Walnut High’s proficiency trend is mixed but remains well above state levels: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, ELA rose by 1 point, math fell by 2 points, and science rose by 2 points. SchoolDigger ranked Walnut High in the 94th percentile in 2025–26, while Ron Hockwalt’s latest listed ranking was in the 19th percentile in 2022–23; these are different-year rankings. Other context differs too: the 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible measures were 24% at Walnut High and 28% at Ron Hockwalt, while student-teacher ratios were 23.1 and 5, respectively. These figures describe two different school settings and do not explain the outcome differences.
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