Summary:
Zip code 96122 has two high schools in Portola, both in Plumas Unified: Portola Junior/Senior High serves grades 7–12 and enrolls 256 students, while Beckwourth (Jim) High (Continuation) serves grades 9–12 and enrolls 15. Portola has about 17 times Beckwourth’s enrollment. The most important academic finding is Portola’s math gap: its 2025–26 proficiency was 19 points below the state.
Portola has the stronger published academic results, but the data do not establish a winner between the schools: Beckwourth’s school-level test scores are suppressed, and the schools serve different grade spans. Portola’s all-grades proficiency was 44% in ELA, 30% in science and 20% in math; it was above its district by 5 points in ELA and 6 in science, but 6 points below it in math. Portola was below state proficiency in all three subjects: by 5 points in ELA, 6 in science and 19 in math. Attendance is the clearest concern at Beckwourth: chronic absenteeism was 100% in 2025–26, compared with 38% at Portola, 26% in the district and 18% statewide. Beckwourth’s enrollment is just 15, so its reported rate merits caution.
Portola’s proficiency improved from 2024–25 to 2025–26 in all three subjects: by 3 points in ELA, 5 in math and 19 in science, with its state gaps narrowing in each. Its SchoolDigger ranking rose from the 38th percentile in 2024–25 to the 39th in 2025–26, but remained below its 60th-percentile standing in 2023–24; Beckwourth’s latest listed ranking is the 9th percentile in 2012–13, too old for a current comparison. Staffing and income measures add context: the 2024–25 student-teacher ratios were 13.6 at Portola and 25 at Beckwourth, and free/reduced lunch eligibility was 54% and 60%, respectively.
Thank you for your feedback!