Summary:
The 95553 area has one high school, South Fork High, serving grades 9–12 with 211 students and part of the Southern Humboldt Joint Unified district. In 2025–2026, its all-grades proficiency was 59% in ELA and 38% in science, both above California’s rates, but 18% in math, well below the state. Graduation was 93%, compared with 88% statewide, while chronic absenteeism was 38%, compared with 18%. The clearest concern for families is that high chronic absenteeism contrasts with the school’s stronger graduation rate.
There is no local top-versus-bottom school comparison because South Fork is the only school listed; its standout results are instead its stronger subjects and its math weakness relative to the state. ELA was 10 percentage points above California and science 2 points above, while math was 21 points below. The same uneven pattern appears in 11th grade: ELA was 2 points above the state, but science was 2 points below and math 14 points below. Graduation was 5 points above the state, and dropout was 1 point lower, though chronic absenteeism was 19 points higher.
Results improved sharply between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026: ELA rose 36 percentage points, science 33 points, and math 9 points. South Fork moved from below state proficiency in all three subjects to above it in ELA and science, but math remained substantially behind. SchoolDigger’s ranking also improved, from 1,763 of 2,162 schools (18th percentile, 1 star) to 957 of 2,137 (55th percentile, 3 stars). For context, the 2024–2025 student–teacher ratio was 14.5, and 65% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that school year; these figures describe the school and do not explain its results.
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