Imperial High

Summary:

Imperial High is a public high school located in Imperial, California, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 1,362 students. The school is part of the Imperial Unified School District, which is ranked 628 out of 1,568 districts in California and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Imperial High consistently ranks in the top 30% of California high schools, with strong academic performance on Smarter Balanced Assessments. In the 2023-2024 school year, 62.58% of 11th-grade students were proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy, and 20.86% were proficient or better in Mathematics. The school's graduation rates have been high, ranging from 94.7% to 98.0% over the past five school years, significantly higher than the state's average. However, the school's performance for Special Education and Disabled students is relatively lower, ranking in the bottom 40% and bottom 50% of California high schools, respectively.

When compared to nearby schools, Imperial High outperforms Imperial Ave. Holbrook High School, which has significantly lower academic performance and higher chronic absenteeism. However, compared to larger high schools in the region, such as Brawley Union High and Central Union High, Imperial High's performance is more mixed, with higher test scores in English Language Arts/Literacy but lower Mathematics performance. Despite having a relatively high percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, Imperial High's academic performance and graduation rates remain strong, suggesting effective strategies to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.


Detail:

Public 9-12

 517 West Barioni Blvd.
       Imperial, CA  92251-1452


(760) 355-3220

District: Imperial Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
606th of 2,323 California High Schools


Feeder schools for Imperial High:

Elementary:    Ben Hulse Elementary
    T. L. Waggoner Elementary
Middle:    Frank M. Wright Middle

Student/teacher ratio:  23.7 Help
Number of students:  1,378

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
87.7%
White:
8.8%
Asian:
1.7%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  38.3% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Imperial High ranks better than 73.9% of high schools in California. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 61.3. (See more...)
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The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Imperial High who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.
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The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
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Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (87.7%), White (8.8%), Asian (1.7%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 38.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Imperial High is 23.7. (See more...)
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Compare Imperial High employs 58 full-time teachers.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Imperial High:

SchoolDigger ranks Imperial High 606th of 2323 California public high schools. (See Imperial High in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Homeless students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Imperial Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Imperial Unified 628th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

Read all reviews and ratings detail for Imperial High.

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Rank History for Imperial High

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Rank History for all students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 55.29 415th 1653 74.9%
2005 58.12 447th 1901 76.5%
2006 69.18 301st 1968 84.7%
2007 71.65 233rd 2063 88.7%
2008 74.16 204th 2117 90.4%
2009 71.63 232nd 2238 89.6%
2010 75.97 185th 2281 91.9%
2011 71.59 277th 2367 88.3%
2012 77.84 177th 2354 92.5%
2013 72.90 254th 2426 89.5%
2015 78.41 391st 1994 80.4%
2016 72.10 513th 2039 74.8%
2017 76.16 477th 2021 76.4%
2018 75.18 491st 2017 75.7%
2019 80.22 359th 2133 83.2%
2021 51.61 583rd 1290 54.8%
2022 62.19 666th 2123 68.6%
2023 61.20 629th 2348 73.2%
2024 61.30 606th 2323 73.9%
See the entire list of California High School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 25.40 739th 938 21.2%
2019 90.85 33rd 941 96.5%
2021 31.95 321st 467 31.3%
2022 43.30 441st 1044 57.8%
2023 35.70 591st 1323 55.3%
2024 40.79 444th 1350 67.1%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 28.52 1051st 1547 32.1%
2024 32.53 902nd 1534 41.2%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 69.79 521st 1862 72.0%
2019 81.43 266th 1937 86.3%
2021 37.94 726th 1126 35.5%
2022 54.09 768th 1943 60.5%
2023 63.48 559th 2247 75.1%
2024 61.44 574th 2235 74.3%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 74.65 69th 417 83.5%
2024 60.75 151st 451 66.5%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 69.46 540th 1760 69.3%
2019 74.14 405th 1833 77.9%
2021 42.88 591st 1054 43.9%
2022 58.60 647th 1858 65.2%
2023 54.92 715th 2118 66.2%
2024 57.97 640th 2098 69.5%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 17.73 970th 1052 7.8%
2019 60.93 278th 1117 75.1%
2021 48.78 210th 555 62.2%
2022 23.52 1020th 1161 12.1%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 76.15 433rd 1834 76.4%
2019 81.43 295th 1880 84.3%
2021 52.41 481st 1122 57.1%
2022 61.63 615th 1916 67.9%
2023 64.76 536th 2207 75.7%
2024 61.57 571st 2172 73.7%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 82.81 265th 1742 84.8%
2019 84.57 191st 1814 89.5%
2022 72.37 387th 1861 79.2%
2023 69.29 434th 2142 79.7%
2024 69.66 397th 2125 81.3%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Imperial High

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 70.71 367th 1173 68.7%
2019 85.29 123rd 1222 89.9%
2022 61.28 446th 1204 63.0%
2023 59.05 464th 1434 67.6%
2024 70.59 309th 1406 78.0%
See the entire list of Best California High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Imperial High Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 




Data source: California Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1.5)
0%

0%

0%

50%

50%

  

Reviews:
by a student
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Open Quote Their education does not live up to all the things people say about it. I was disappointed. Close Quote



Enrollment information for Imperial High

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 172 16 4 191 0 n/a n/a 0 383
1989 175 12 1 199 1 n/a n/a 0 388
1990 153 17 1 229 2 n/a n/a 0 402
1991 169 14 1 263 0 n/a n/a 0 447
1992 160 13 3 271 0 n/a n/a 0 447
1993 211 19 1 266 0 n/a n/a 0 497
1994 211 14 0 277 0 n/a n/a 0 502
1995 235 14 3 314 0 n/a n/a 0 566
1996 235 14 3 314 0 n/a n/a 0 566
1997 208 15 4 351 0 n/a n/a 0 578
1998 233 14 10 332 0 n/a n/a 0 589
1999 238 24 10 349 0 n/a n/a 0 621
2000 250 19 13 399 2 n/a n/a 0 683
2001 260 20 10 396 2 n/a n/a 0 688
2002 231 16 13 424 1 n/a n/a 0 685
2003 231 16 13 424 1 n/a n/a 0 685
2004 226 16 15 482 2 n/a n/a 0 741
2005 203 9 14 533 1 n/a n/a 0 760
2006 202 11 14 545 1 n/a n/a 0 773
2007 211 14 14 610 0 n/a n/a 1 850
2008 221 21 15 609 n/a n/a n/a 0 866
2009 214 23 16 659 0 3 2 0 917
2010 198 20 20 682 0 2 2 0 924
2011 204 27 18 687 0 1 2 0 939
2012 199 24 20 757 0 0 2 0 1002
2013 183 28 22 786 0 0 5 0 1024
2014 188 27 25 838 0 0 5 0 1083
2015 183 22 30 890 1 0 4 0 1130
2016 183 20 28 933 3 0 5 0 1172
2017 188 17 23 975 4 0 7 0 1214
2018 190 14 25 1005 4 1 10 0 1249
2019 183 14 26 1057 3 1 22 0 1306
2020 168 15 22 1096 0 1 18 1 1321
2021 158 14 26 1120 1 1 17 0 1337
2022 137 13 27 1143 1 0 16 0 1337
2023 129 12 24 1183 1 0 13 0 1362
2024 121 13 23 1209 1 0 10 1 1378

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Imperial High

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 383 22.9 16.7 n/a
1989 388 21.9 17.7 n/a
1990 402 21.6 18.6 n/a
1991 447 24.0 18.6 n/a
1992 447 24.4 18.3 29.1
1993 497 23.0 21.6 30.2
1994 502 26.9 18.7 23.5
1995 566 30.5 18.6 21.7
1996 566 30.5 18.6 21.7
1997 578 31.7 18.2 31
1998 589 32.4 18.2 29.9
1999 621 35.6 17.4 31.7
2000 683 35.1 19.5 28.4
2001 688 35.0 19.7 25
2002 685 34.8 19.7 21.2
2003 685 34.8 19.7 21.2
2004 741 33.4 22.2 26.5
2005 760 36.2 21.0 31.1
2006 773 35.9 21.5 26.6
2007 850 37.4 22.7 33.3
2008 866 44.0 19.7 39.5
2009 917 40.6 20.1 37.4
2010 924 39.6 23.3 35.4
2011 939 n/a n/a 35.4
2012 1002 38.7 25.8 n/a
2013 1024 39.2 26.1 41.2
2014 1083 42.4 25.5 44.5
2015 1130 45.0 25.1 36.9
2016 1172 48.0 24.4 44.9
2017 1214 48.2 25.1 38.7
2018 1249 51.5 24.2 42.9
2019 1306 55.0 23.7 45.4
2020 1321 n/a n/a 46.3
2021 1337 54.1 24.6 46.1
2022 1337 57.5 23.2 51.8
2023 1362 58.6 23.2 53.1
2024 1378 58.0 23.7 38.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Imperial High

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 383 22.9 16.7 n/a
1989 388 21.9 17.7 n/a
1990 402 21.6 18.6 n/a
1991 447 24.0 18.6 n/a
1992 447 24.4 18.3 29.1
1993 497 23.0 21.6 30.2
1994 502 26.9 18.7 23.5
1995 566 30.5 18.6 21.7
1996 566 30.5 18.6 21.7
1997 578 31.7 18.2 31
1998 589 32.4 18.2 29.9
1999 621 35.6 17.4 31.7
2000 683 35.1 19.5 28.4
2001 688 35.0 19.7 25
2002 685 34.8 19.7 21.2
2003 685 34.8 19.7 21.2
2004 741 33.4 22.2 26.5
2005 760 36.2 21.0 31.1
2006 773 35.9 21.5 26.6
2007 850 37.4 22.7 33.3
2008 866 44.0 19.7 39.5
2009 917 40.6 20.1 37.4
2010 924 39.6 23.3 35.4
2011 939 n/a n/a 35.4
2012 1002 38.7 25.8 n/a
2013 1024 39.2 26.1 41.2
2014 1083 42.4 25.5 44.5
2015 1130 45.0 25.1 36.9
2016 1172 48.0 24.4 44.9
2017 1214 48.2 25.1 38.7
2018 1249 51.5 24.2 42.9
2019 1306 55.0 23.7 45.4
2020 1321 n/a n/a 46.3
2021 1337 54.1 24.6 46.1
2022 1337 57.5 23.2 51.8
2023 1362 58.6 23.2 53.1
2024 1378 58.0 23.7 38.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Imperial High

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 359th of 2133 High schoolsRanks 629th of 2348 High schools
 10%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
11th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Imperial High)7566.8
 8.2%
   11th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Imperial Unified)7561.2
 13.8%
   11th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)57.355.4
 1.9%
11th Grade Mathematics (Imperial High)36.123.9
 12.2%
   11th Grade Mathematics (Imperial Unified)36.121.3
 14.8%
   11th Grade Mathematics (California)32.227.4
 4.9%
11th Grade Science (Imperial High)40.329.4
 10.9%
   11th Grade Science (Imperial Unified)40.327.4
 12.9%
   11th Grade Science (California)30.431.7
 1.3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students13061362
 4.3%
African American1412
 14.3%
American Indian31
 66.7%
Asian2624
 7.7%
Hispanic10571183
 11.9%
Pacific Islander10
 100%
White183129
 29.5%
Two or More Races2213
 40.9%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients45.4%53.1%
 7.7%


Schools Near Imperial High









Frequently Asked Questions about Imperial High

Imperial High ranks 606th of 2323 California high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Students at Imperial High are 88% Hispanic, 9% White, 2% Asian.

Imperial High is fed by the following schools:

Elementary : Ben Hulse Elementary
Elementary : T. L. Waggoner Elementary
Middle : Frank M. Wright Middle

In the 2023-24 school year, 1,378 students attended Imperial High.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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