Compare Hillcrest High School with Sunset High School

Hillcrest High School earned a State accountability rating of B (80-89) based on three domains: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps. Scores are scaled from 0 to 100 to align with letter grades. The school scored 79 in student achievement, 87 in school progress and 76 in closing performance gaps. It scored 82 overall in post-secondary readiness, a broad term that refers to student preparedness to undertake multiple pathways after graduation, or specifically, their preparedness for college education.

On the other hand, Sunset High School also earned a State accountability rating of B. The school posted 74 in student achievement, 83 in school progress, 74 in closing performance gaps and 81 overall in post-secondary readiness.

A distinction designation acknowledges districts and campuses for outstanding achievement based on the outcomes of several performance indicators. Distinction designations are awarded for achievement in several areas and are based on performance relative to a group of campuses of similar type, size, grade span, and student demographics.

It is in this area where the two schools differ. Hillcrest High School's four out of seven distinctions are in Reading/English Language Arts (ELA), Science, Social Studies and post-secondary. Sunset High School’s only distinction designation is in Comparative Academic Growth.

Based on Racial/Ethnic Groups, the dominant group in Hillcrest High School is Hispanics who make up nearly 70.18% of student population, followed by African Americans (15.96%), Whites or Caucasians (10.78%), Asians (1.45%), Two or More Races (1.14%) and Native Americans (0.30%).

At Sunset High School, Hispanics make up 96.25% of student population, followed by African Americans (1.62%), Whites or Caucasians (1.44%), Native Americans (0.32%), Asians (0.19%) and Two or More Races (0.14%).

Based on household incomes, the Hillcrest High School’s economically disadvantaged students is significantly lower at 70.12% compared to 82.58% at Sunset High School.

In terms of Limited English Proficiency (LEP), a term used in the United States that refers to a person who is not fluent in the English Language, mainly because it is not their native language, Hillcrest High School has 788 English Language Learners or ELLS or about 47.47% of student population. Sunset High School has significantly more ELLs at 1021 or about 47.29% of student population.

Hillcrest High School’s bilingual students comprise 44.82%, gifted and talented students, 16.45%, while 7.95% are in the special education program. Sunset High School bilingual students comprise 42.66%, gifted and talented students, 13.39%, and 9.12% are in the special education program.

Hillcrest High School's 97 teachers have been working at the campus for an average of 5.6 years with individual teaching experience averaging nearly 9.2 years. Sunset High School's 125 teachers have been working at the campus for an average of 6.7 years with individual teaching experience averaging close to 8.8 years.

Of its teaching staff, Hillcrest High School has one teacher only serving the school for over 30 years, has eight teachers serving the school for 20-30 years, 25 teachers have worked for 11-20 years, 23 teachers have worked for 6-10 years, while 33 teachers have been serving the school for over 1-5 years, including seven beginning teachers. Sunset High School has one teacher only serving the school for over 30 years, has ten teachers serving the school for 20-30 years, 28 teachers have worked for 11-20 years, 30 teachers have worked for 6-10 years, while 49 teachers have been serving the school for over 1-5 years, including eight beginning teachers.

Hillcrest High School has ten special education teachers assisted by 11 teacher aides or paraprofessionals. Sunset High School has 14 special education teachers and 9 teacher aides or paraprofessionals.