Original Research by School Decision on Calexico High
Calexico High is a four-year public high school in a small border city at the southern end of the Imperial Valley, directly across a steel barrier from Mexicali, Mexico. The school serves all four grades and draws nearly its entire enrollment from the surrounding, predominantly Hispanic/Latino community. Almost all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic structure of both the town and the immediate region.
The school's state test results are the story that will matter most to parents weighing this choice. In English language arts, about half of all students tested reached proficiency. In mathematics, proficiency fell to roughly one in five students. In science, it dropped further, to about one in seven. These are low attainment levels across the board. One data point alone does not tell the full arc, and the school's performance history over prior years was not available, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school and district to understand whether these represent typical performance, a dip, or a longer trend, and what supports are in place. The district has also not reported the school's graduation rate or chronic absenteeism rate, so readers cannot see completion rates or attendance patterns from state data.
The school campus itself has been undergoing substantial change. Voters approved a general obligation bond in 2020 to modernize and expand the building. Construction began in 2021 and is ongoing. Ninth-graders, who had been housed on a separate academy campus, are being brought back to Calexico High as the renovation progresses. This integration is part of a larger district reconfiguration that also moves a junior high school into the vacated ninth-grade building. For families with high school students, this means the campus is actively under construction and its footprint is shifting. The school itself is a large one for this region, serving more than a typical county school, and draws students from across Calexico rather than from a small neighborhood.
Calexico is a working-class border community with a steady economy anchored in health care, retail, and education, supplemented by cross-border commerce and agriculture. Housing costs here sit well below the California state average and are affordable relative to median household income in the area, though families carrying a mortgage should know that the school district's bond measure, Measure Q, adds a property tax obligation estimated to continue until repayment is complete. The city itself is pursuing residential growth through multiple development sites and new affordable housing projects, so the school's enrollment and community composition may shift somewhat over the coming years.
Downtown Calexico clusters around the pedestrian border crossing, which sees heavy daily foot traffic. The high school sits on a larger campus several miles from downtown on what was historically the Preston Ranch. Most residents in the area drive to work and own multiple vehicles; the school is not within easy walking distance of downtown but sits at the edge of the city proper. Public transit exists through the Imperial Valley Transit system and a local on-demand rideshare service.
The county data needed to benchmark this school's performance against others in Imperial County was not available in the comparison set, so readers cannot directly see how Calexico High ranks among its neighbors. What is clear is that the school's test results in mathematics and science are notably low, and English language arts proficiency, while better, is still below half. Parents drawn to this school for reasons of community, geography, or school capacity should enter with realistic expectations about current academic outcomes and should ask the school directly about supports in place to help students move toward proficiency, especially in quantitative subjects where results are most strained.
See more original research from School Decision →