Original Research by School Decision on Macgregor High (continuation)
MacGregor High is a continuation school serving grades ten through twelve in Albany, located at a semi-urban campus on Key Route Boulevard. It is a small alternative school with an enrollment of roughly a dozen students, predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial majority eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Continuation schools serve students who have struggled to graduate on a traditional high school track, often because of attendance gaps, credit deficits, or other barriers. MacGregor is operated by the Albany City Unified School District as one pathway back to earning a diploma. A student enrolling here is making a different educational choice than attending the traditional Albany High School; the structure, pace, and support are built around recovery rather than a four-year cohort model. This school type exists precisely because some students need that change of setting to succeed.
The data environment around MacGregor is extremely limited. State assessment results were not available, likely because the small cohort and the nature of continuation education mean no results are reported at this school level. No graduation rate is provided in the data. The absence of these figures does not tell you whether MacGregor succeeds or fails; it reflects instead that continuation schools sit outside the usual testing and reporting architecture. A parent or student considering this school would want to ask the district directly about outcomes: what share of students who enroll complete graduation requirements, over what timeline, and with what support. Those questions matter far more than a statewide test score would.
What the data does show is the student body. The school is small and intensely concentrated. The enrollment is about evenly split between eleventh and tenth grades, with no twelfth-grade students reported in the data shown. About seventy percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Roughly eighty percent are Hispanic, and about a fifth identify as two or more races. English learner status and special education enrollment data were not provided, so a parent may want to ask the school about those populations as well.
The housing market around Albany itself is tight and expensive, with home values well above the state average and rents high relative to local income. Measure G, a square-footage-based parcel tax approved in March 2024, now funds the district and shifts the tax burden to larger buildings; smaller homes pay less. Voters also approved Measure L, a school facilities bond, in November 2024, locking in a multi-decade property tax commitment. These are factual realities for any family moving into or already living in Albany.
The district as a whole has faced fiscal stress, including a declared deficit and adopted expenditure cuts for the school year, even with the new parcel tax in place. Per-pupil funding remains below the state average. This budget environment can mean tighter resources across all schools, including staffing and program offerings. Albany's civic life centers on its small-town walkable corridors, especially Solano Avenue, which functions as the main shopping and restaurant district. The city spans under two square miles and sits immediately adjacent to Berkeley, with strong regional transit access via BART and AC Transit.
MacGregor is a genuine alternative pathway, not a holding cell. Students who enroll here are choosing (or being offered) a school designed for recovery and redirection. The small size, the community's support for schools, and the district's existing tax infrastructure suggest the district takes this option seriously. At the same time, the extremely limited public data means transparency about student outcomes, year-to-completion rates, and support services would be a reasonable question to ask directly of the school and district before enrollment.
See more original research from School Decision →