Summary:
ZIP code 95932 has two high schools serving grades 9–12: Colusa High (431 students) and Colusa Alternative High (Continuation) (27 students). In 2025–2026, Colusa High’s all-grades English language arts (ELA) proficiency was 59%, above the state’s 49%, while both schools’ math results were well below the state’s 38%. The most important area-wide finding is that Colusa High’s ELA strength does not extend to math: proficiency was only about 15% at each school.
Colusa High led in all three subjects, while Colusa Alternative High (Continuation) had the lower results in ELA and science. ELA proficiency was 59% at Colusa High and 0% at the alternative school, a 59-point difference; science was 24% versus 0%. Math was a near tie: 14.7% versus 14.3%, a difference of 0.4 points, though both were about 24 points below the state. SchoolDigger rates Colusa High at the 45th percentile with 2 stars and the alternative school at the 15th percentile with 1 star.
Both schools’ ELA and math results increased from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, and the two-school average moved closer to state results: the ELA gap narrowed from 21 to 20 points, and the math gap from 26 to 24 points. The gains varied: the alternative school’s ELA remained at 0%, while its math rose by 5 points; Colusa High’s science result rose by 10 points. Attendance is another major difference: chronic absenteeism was 5% at Colusa High and 56% at the alternative school. In 2024–2025, the student-teacher ratios were 20:1 and 27:1, respectively; free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 66% and 78%. These are contextual differences, not explanations for test results.
Thank you for your feedback!