Boron Junior-senior High, Boron CA

Original Research by School Decision on Boron Junior-senior High

Boron Junior-Senior High serves grades seven through twelve in a small, blue-collar high-desert town on the western edge of the Mojave Desert. The school has about two hundred and forty students, and about half of them qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is roughly balanced across grade six through twelve, with a student body that is roughly evenly split between white and Hispanic students, alongside smaller shares of Black students and other groups.

This is a school in genuine academic distress. State proficiency data from 2024-25 shows that in seventh-grade math, about one in six students met the standard; in eighth-grade math, about one in seven did. In English language arts, the picture is similar: seventh graders achieved about one in five, eighth graders about one in five. Science proficiency in eighth grade was markedly lower, with fewer than one in twelve meeting standard. These are the most recent results available. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the county's tested schools. A parent should look into what academic supports the school is offering and what plans exist to move these numbers, because this trajectory leaves most students significantly behind where their grade level calls for them to be by high school entry.

The school itself sits in Boron, an unincorporated community of moderate size in Kern County, historically defined by borax mining and now shaped by proximity to Edwards Air Force Base. The town center is walkable, with a main street housing restaurants, markets, and the Twenty Mule Team Museum, and sits near Pioneer Park and the county library. Beyond this core, the region is car-dependent. Boron's population has been roughly flat for decades; the town faced job losses as mine automation accelerated and younger residents moved away. Recent development activity has centered on large-scale solar projects nearby rather than residential growth. The town's workforce is predominantly blue-collar, tied to the borax mine, food service, and aerospace and science work.

Boron Junior-Senior High is part of Muroc Joint Unified School District, which spans Boron, North Edwards, and Edwards Air Force Base across two counties. The district recently passed a facilities bond (Measure B in 2022) that funded classroom modernization at the school and facility upgrades elsewhere, along with enhanced technology access. All district schools, including this one, have earned California's Purple Star designation, recognizing support for military-connected students and families.

The median home value in the zip code is moderate relative to state benchmarks, and mortgage affordability is reasonable compared to national figures. Rental housing is common in Boron. The unemployment rate in the broader region is modest, and median household income is solid, though this obscures the reality that many households in the district's service area are economically stretched.

State testing data beyond grades seven and eight is not available in the current payload. No graduation rate, chronic absenteeism rate, or college enrollment pathway data were present, so a parent should ask the school directly about those outcomes and about what the school is doing to address the proficiency gaps evident in the tested grades. The school offers a traditional comprehensive program; details on AP offerings, career pathways, or dual-credit programs were not available and should be requested from the school.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

70-79%Cohort of 31 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 716%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 16% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 36% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 36% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 16% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 44% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolMuroc Joint Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 7Lower-income19%Higher-income23%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income15%Higher-income25%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income9%Higher-income31%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income8%Higher-income25%17 pp gap