Original Research by School Decision on Hillview High (continuation)
Hillview High in Tustin is a continuation high school serving grades ten through twelve in an alternative setting. A continuation school is a distinct pathway for students who are not on track in a traditional high school program, often because of attendance, credits, or other barriers to completion. This is not a college-prep or standard-track environment; it is a school built to serve students whose educational path has diverged from the typical sequence.
The student body is very small, with enrollment concentrated in the junior and senior grades. The overwhelming majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a population from families facing economic hardship. The student body is almost entirely Hispanic, with very small numbers of students from other racial and ethnic groups. No data on English learner status or students with disabilities was available.
The academic picture here is one a parent will want to understand carefully. State testing results for 2024-25 show extremely low proficiency rates across English language arts, math, and science. These numbers reflect the reality of a continuation school: the students arriving here have already experienced academic difficulty or disengagement, often compounded by attendance or credit gaps. Low test proficiency at a continuation school does not mean the school is failing; it reflects the needs of the population it serves. What matters is whether the school is helping these students progress toward graduation and credential completion. A parent considering Hillview should ask the school directly about its graduation rate, its approach to credit recovery, its attendance support, and what percentage of students move into employment or post-secondary pathways after leaving.
The school sits in central Tustin near older, established neighborhoods. Tustin itself is a mixed-income Orange County city with a historic downtown core and newer master-planned development underway. The area is relatively affordable by Orange County standards, though housing values remain high. Nearby Old Town Tustin offers walkable shopping and dining; the broader city has suburban car-oriented character with good freeway access.
The Tustin Unified School District, which operates Hillview, recently won voter approval for a major facilities bond in 2024 to repair aging campuses, address safety and security systems, and upgrade science labs and classrooms. Many of the district's buildings are over fifty years old. The district is also undertaking a multi-year math instruction overhaul starting in 2024, studying approaches to teaching before selecting new materials; this signals a pedagogical shift that will affect how math is taught across the district, though implementation varies by school type.
A parent considering Hillview should approach it as an alternative pathway, not as a school serving the same role as a traditional high school. The questions to ask are about credit recovery, graduation support, attendance and behavioral intervention, job training or dual-enrollment opportunities, and how the school connects students to next steps. State test scores alone do not capture whether the school is succeeding with its actual mission.
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