Mar Vista High School

505 Elm Ave, Imperial Beach, CA 91932 | (619) 691-5500

Grades: 9-12
Student Enrollment: 1,775

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Rating

4 out of 5 | 19 Reviews

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School Description

School Summary and Highlights

Enrolls 1,775 high school students from grades 9-12
Ranks 853rd out of 1,197 high schools in CA.
2010 Overall School AYP Met Status: No

Additional Contact Information

Mailing Address: 505 Elm Ave., Imperial Beach, CA 91932

School Operational Details

Title I Eligible
All students of this school are eligible for participation in authorized programs.

School District Details

Sweetwater Union High School District
Per-Pupil Spending: $9,219
Graduation Rate: 83.5%
Dropout Rate: 3.9%
Students Per Teacher: 23.4
Enrolled Students: 42,224

Faculty Details and Student Enrollment

Students and Faculty

Total Students Enrolled: 1,775
Total Full Time "Equivalent" Teachers: 86.1
Average Student-To-Teacher Ratio: 20.6

Students Gender Breakdown

Males: 951 (53.6%)
Females: 824 (46.4%)

Free Lunch Student Eligibility Breakdown

Eligible for Reduced Lunch: 231 (13.0%)
Eligible for Free Lunch: 939 (52.9%)
Eligible for Either Reduced or Free Lunch: 1,170 (65.9%)

Student Enrollment Distribution by Race / Ethnicity

Mar Vista High School Student Race Distribution

	Number	Percent
American Indian	11	0.6%
Black	66	3.7%
Asian	75	4.2%
Hispanic	1,285	72.4%
White	275	15.5%

Number of Students Per Grade

	Number	Percent
9th Grade	468	26.4%
10th Grade	461	26.0%
11th Grade	422	23.8%
12th Grade	424	23.9%

Graduates Information (2010)

Graduation Rate

School:

89.9%

District:

85.0%

State:

78.6%

Teacher Education Background (2009)

Percent With Ph.D.

School:

2.0%

District:

6.8%

Percent With Master's Degree

School:

32.4%

District:

37.9%

Percent With Bachelor's Degree

School:

2.9%

District:

5.6%

Teacher Credentials & Experience (2009)

Percent of Teachers With Credentials: 100.0%

Number of Certificated Staff: 102.0

Average Number of Years of Teacher Experience: 12.0

Average Age

School:

43.2

District:

46.5

Source: CA Department of Education, Source: NCES 2009-2010

School Ratings and Reviews

Overall Rating: 4

4 out of 5 | 19 Reviews

The Overall Rating is the school's average rating from parents, students, school faculty and staff. The highest rating is five apples and the lowest is one apple.

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19 reviews for Mar Vista High School

Reviewed by Former Student on November 19, 2010
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Hail Hail Mar Vista High....
I'm the fourth in my family to graduate from MVHS. We have the class of 84,86,87 and 91 in our family. We loved our teachers, some of whom are MVHS alumni themselves. They definitely have an outstanding commitment to student success. I attribute my success to my teachers. Mr. N, Mr. A, Ms. M, Coach M. Do some of you even know about the history of these last names related to this school? Boy some of these comments are really ignorantly stupid. You were probably one of those that are not involved with your school community and are lazy and apathetic to the "cause". Yeah, so it's not a rich school like Coronado, but we have the coolest teachers, a friendly laid-back surfer 'tude and we do care about college. 99% of all college bound alumni from 91 graduated from college. Some of us are engineers,professors,doctors,nurses and the list goes on. We didn't have a culture of gang bangers and parents on dope 24/7 but rather,we came from hard working families involved with our success in school. I love Mar Vista High!

Reviewed by Student on October 08, 2010
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
I think mar vista high is a bad school
to Go to Iam glad Iam out of there
that school sucks Iam tell you ok.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on July 09, 2010
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
is the best

Reviewed by Former Student on February 26, 2010
Rating: (4 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
I am glad to say I have attended this school. Although the school does land in the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder, the education I received was amazing. There are many teachers there that are I.B. residents and who have been there for years. These teachers are obviously not there for the paycheck; they are there because they truly care for the students. Even the head janitor, Francisco, cares for the students. That alone says a lot about the sense of community formed at MVH.

Many students who graduated from MVH attended or attend a four year university.

Advance Placement courses are offered, AVID is offered and so are many recreational sports and award winning performing arts clubs.

The reason I gave a 4 instead of a 5 is because I think they need to put more emphasis and money towards the performing arts rather than the losing programs.

All-in-all this is a wonderful high school and I recommend it to all.

Reviewed by Former Student on December 06, 2009
Rating: (3 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
There are definitely both positive and negative aspects about this school, but the same can probably be said about all the public schools in south San Diego. Academically, the school was subpar. The administration did not seem to care very much at all about the student experience, achievement or morale. If I wasn't so determined to go to a good college, I wouldn't have been admitted to one for lack of guidance. I agree with an earlier comment about the teachers - if you want to do well, they can be helpful; otherwise, most teachers really don't care to put extra effort into the average student. Socially, the school was great. The students are fairly laid back, and even though there were rumors about a large skin head presence, I didn't notice them. Kids, in general, are "cliquey", but there weren't a lot fights. most seemed to get along fine. No one had a lot of money, nor did anyone pretend to, so there was a lack of pretension, unlike other, more northeastern schools in the district. I graduated from Mar Vista several years ago after going to another school in the same district for the first 2 years, so a lot of my opinions are based on comparisons. Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Mar Vista, but you really have to be self-motivated to be successful academically.

Reviewed by Student on November 29, 2009
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
I'm French and I have 15 years old.
I went in mar vista for 2 months. This school is the better place in the world everyone is so nice ,friendly and very helpful. Teachers too! Everybody is friend with others. No gangs! No more problems than in others school. I just love it. And now I comed back to france and I miss it a lot!! There is nowhere like mar vista. My dream is to come there again.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on November 11, 2009
Rating: (1 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Just look at the grammer in some of these reviews and you can see what kind of education to expect at Mar Vista. And don't let them fool you. There's a lot of gang activity. Gangs ruin schools all over this country. And Mar Vista is no exception. I'm a former student and will never put my children in this school. Plus the administration is useless. Just try to contact them by phone.

Reviewed by Student on October 30, 2009
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Haha, Hi I'm now attending Mar Vista High School, and when i read all of thses things ...' reviews ' sayin so much with gang violence? HAH my but. loool. Mar Vista Is a really good school, it may not be the " BEST " or RICHEST school ever, but the teachers teach an amazing way, i have to admit. Our sport thing is great too( haha except our football team sucks ) :) And We do have clique problems but just the Preppy people :D thats all, :) go mariners! :D ..i just hate the name too.. lol :D

Reviewed by Former Student on July 27, 2009
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Honestly im a graduate from Mar Vista High and i thought it was a great school. Class of 04..not much gangs in there..i mean a few but what high school doesnt u know..well Go MARINERS!!!!!!!!

Reviewed by Student on July 03, 2009
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
I reccomend southwest high its way better.
Marvista freaking sucks.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on June 16, 2009
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
I am a mother of a Special Needs student, and I am pleased with the teacher, and especially the Aides. I do have a major gripe with knowing that our Special Needs classes do not have Air Conditioning for our students, but the rest of the school classrooms do, and that there is Construction about to start, and no mention of installing A.C. to these classes. I've already emailed a News Station and Sweetwater Union District about this Unacceptable issue.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on June 10, 2009
Rating: (4 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
My Kid went to mar vista she a great girl no problems. She never mention anything about gangs. This school is what you take out of it, my girl graduated with a 3.9 and 40,000 dollars in scholarships. She attended a UC and is an engineer. She says regular teacher dont care much if a student does not want to learn, but if you want to learn they are very helpful. My girl was in the poseidon academy great program look into it teacher actually care about students and students are asked to maintain a GPA. Overall marvista was the best choice for my girl. nice environment, close to the beach. Remember is what your kid decides to make out of it.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on June 07, 2009
Rating: (3 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Academics are ok with teachers who care. Athletic programs are questionable with coaches collecting a check for the most part. No problems with drugs from this parent but as another review stated it's how you raise your children. Best choice between SW, San Ysidro, and Mar Vista.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on June 04, 2009
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Well theres a drug problem but who cares. My kid is fine. Remember if you raised your kid right theres nothing to worry about.

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on January 03, 2009
Rating: (1 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Of all schools I could have ended up at. Mar Vista IS a gang infested school with no control over the students, and no proper procedures of dealing with gang violence. Students are often segregated and forced to hang out in certain areas of the school despite religion, beliefs, and upbringing. It's not the child who is to blame here. Its the state and what they are doing to prevent such a negative environment.

Reviewed by Student on December 08, 2008
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
they school is great not so much of GANG! okay.
everythings great!

MARNiERS:)

Reviewed by Former Student on December 01, 2008
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
its a great school!!! not alot of gang violence and drug issues. clique problems but everyone finds a place where they belong and theyre happy everyone has a friend there:]]]]]

Reviewed by Student on October 14, 2008
Rating: (5 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
i like it here
haha=9

Reviewed by Parent/Guardian on January 22, 2007
Rating: (2 / 5) Flag as inappropriate
Its a huge school with a lot of gang activity and great programs their NJROTC program is phenomenal and one of the best in state.But all in all its not that welcoming of an environment. there's some what of an drug issue. All i recommend is the ROTC program but if u are having trouble deciding between southwest and Mar Vista i would say Mar vista Southwest is double the gang violence double the drug problem and everything else but both schools are a bad choice.

Read All 19 Reviews ->

Test Scores and Performance Information

Overall School Rating

Local School
Directory
Rating

How is this determined?

The overall school rating shows that Mar Vista High School performed on average worse than many other schools across the state on CST state exams in the following subjects:

CST Algebra I
CST Algebra II
CST Biology
CST Chemistry
CST Earth Science
CST English-Language Arts
CST General Mathematics
CST Geometry
CST Integrated/Coordinated Science
CST Physics
CST Science
CST Summative High School Math
CST U.S. History
CST World History

AYP Results (2010)

Overall AYP Met: No

ELA AYP Met: No

Math AYP Met: No

Program Improvement (PI) Requirement Under NCLB (2010)

First Year PI Requirement was Implemented: 2003-2004

School's Placement Under NCLB: Year 5

ACT Exam Results (2009)

Percent of Students Taking ACT Exam: 13.1%

Average Combined Score: 19.4

Percent Scoring At or Above 21: 37.4%

SAT Exam Results (2009)

Percent of Students Taking SAT Exam: 21.9%

Average Combined Score: 1,358.7

Critical Reading Average: 456.3

Math Average: 459.0

Writing Average: 443.4

Percent Scoring At or Above 1500: 31.7%

CST - Test Proficiency by Grade and Subject

Grade 9 - % of students at or above proficiency

	School	District	State
CST Algebra I Test
2010	14.0%	30.0%	22.0%
2009	14.0%	28.0%	21.0%
2008	10.0%	20.0%	18.0%

CST Algebra II Test
2010	25.0%	45.0%	69.0%
2009	15.0%	37.0%	65.0%
2008	41.0%	53.0%	66.0%

CST Biology Test
2010	47.0%	58.0%	55.0%
2009	40.0%	50.0%	51.0%
2008	41.0%	49.0%	52.0%

CST Earth Science Test
2010	20.0%	27.0%	35.0%
2009	-	-	-
2008	13.0%	13.0%	31.0%

CST English-Language Arts Test
2010	48.0%	60.0%	54.0%
2009	42.0%	49.0%	50.0%
2008	39.0%	46.0%	49.0%

CST General Mathematics Test
2010	5.0%	16.0%	17.0%
2009	2.0%	17.0%	17.0%
2008	7.0%	21.0%	18.0%

CST Geometry Test
2008	26.0%	39.0%	43.0%

CST Integrated/Coordinated Science Test
2008	34.0%	9.0%	5.0%

Grade 10 - % of students at or above proficiency

	School	District	State
CST Algebra I Test
2010	2.0%	16.0%	12.0%
2009	5.0%	14.0%	11.0%
2008	1.0%	5.0%	9.0%

CST Algebra II Test
2010	2.0%	48.0%	40.0%
2009	7.0%	37.0%	37.0%
2008	21.0%	38.0%	36.0%

CST Biology Test
2010	48.0%	38.0%	38.0%
2009	41.0%	33.0%	34.0%
2008	32.0%	30.0%	35.0%

CST Chemistry Test
2010	26.0%	40.0%	47.0%
2009	37.0%	38.0%	44.0%
2008	36.0%	35.0%	41.0%

CST English-Language Arts Test
2010	38.0%	45.0%	45.0%
2009	37.0%	40.0%	44.0%
2008	36.0%	37.0%	41.0%

CST Geometry Test
2010	53.0%	18.0%	14.0%
2009	-	-	-
2008	6.0%	7.0%	12.0%

CST Science Test
2010	46.0%	46.0%	46.0%
2009	43.0%	39.0%	44.0%
2008	33.0%	35.0%	40.0%

CST World History Test
2010	35.0%	40.0%	42.0%
2009	28.0%	34.0%	38.0%
2008	21.0%	27.0%	33.0%

CST Summative High School Math Test
2009	40.0%	56.0%	71.0%
2008	27.0%	56.0%	68.0%

Grade 11 - % of students at or above proficiency

	School	District	State
CST Algebra I Test
2010	6.0%	12.0%	8.0%
2009	10.0%	7.0%	8.0%
2008	1.0%	5.0%	5.0%

CST Algebra II Test
2010	6.0%	17.0%	14.0%
2009	5.0%	13.0%	12.0%
2008	7.0%	11.0%	11.0%

CST Biology Test
2010	32.0%	40.0%	46.0%
2009	26.0%	34.0%	41.0%
2008	31.0%	32.0%	39.0%

CST Chemistry Test
2010	20.0%	24.0%	30.0%
2009	24.0%	20.0%	27.0%
2008	19.0%	18.0%	25.0%

CST English-Language Arts Test
2010	36.0%	41.0%	42.0%
2009	32.0%	36.0%	40.0%
2008	27.0%	32.0%	37.0%

CST Geometry Test
2010	20.0%	8.0%	6.0%
2009	-	-	-
2008	3.0%	3.0%	6.0%

CST Physics Test
2010	47.0%	62.0%	53.0%
2009	35.0%	50.0%	50.0%
2008	17.0%	55.0%	47.0%

CST Summative High School Math Test
2010	22.0%	42.0%	50.0%
2009	18.0%	35.0%	47.0%
2008	17.0%	30.0%	43.0%

CST U.S. History Test
2010	37.0%	42.0%	45.0%
2009	35.0%	38.0%	44.0%
2008	28.0%	34.0%	38.0%

CST World History Test
2010	13.0%	20.0%	15.0%
2009	11.0%	10.0%	11.0%
2008	10.0%	9.0%	9.0%

CST Earth Science Test
2009	16.0%	21.0%	26.0%
2008	14.0%	24.0%	28.0%

End of Course - % of students at or above proficiency

	School	District	State
CST Algebra I Test
2010	11.0%	37.0%	31.0%
2009	12.0%	34.0%	28.0%
2008	6.0%	24.0%	25.0%

CST Algebra II Test
2010	11.0%	31.0%	31.0%
2009	8.0%	24.0%	28.0%
2008	16.0%	23.0%	27.0%

CST Biology Test
2010	46.0%	47.0%	46.0%
2009	39.0%	40.0%	42.0%
2008	34.0%	37.0%	42.0%

CST Chemistry Test
2010	22.0%	31.0%	38.0%
2009	26.0%	25.0%	36.0%
2008	23.0%	25.0%	32.0%

CST Earth Science Test
2010	11.0%	24.0%	33.0%
2009	13.0%	21.0%	28.0%
2008	10.0%	20.0%	28.0%

CST General Mathematics Test
2010	5.0%	23.0%	27.0%
2009	2.0%	32.0%	26.0%
2008	7.0%	31.0%	27.0%

CST Geometry Test
2010	34.0%	26.0%	27.0%
2009	4.0%	19.0%	26.0%
2008	9.0%	15.0%	24.0%

CST Physics Test
2010	40.0%	62.0%	49.0%
2009	26.0%	51.0%	46.0%
2008	17.0%	52.0%	43.0%

CST Summative High School Math Test
2010	22.0%	44.0%	54.0%
2009	22.0%	37.0%	50.0%
2008	18.0%	31.0%	47.0%

CST World History Test
2010	33.0%	40.0%	41.0%
2009	27.0%	34.0%	38.0%
2008	20.0%	26.0%	33.0%

CST Integrated/Coordinated Science Test
2008	33.0%	5.0%	11.0%

Source: CA Department of Education 2009-2010

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