Sequoia Union High School District

Sequoia Union High School District serves students who bring a wide variety of talents, abilities and interests to their high school experience. Our students are culturally and economically diverse, mirroring the demographics of our region. We aim to help each student, regardless of their background, maximize their academic potential. As reflected in our new 2024-27 Strategic Plan, in the area of academic growth and mastery, our goals include:

 

 

In short, we want to offer each student the most challenging and meaningful experience appropriate to their ability and level of preparation. 

 

Our curriculum and classes are strategically designed by our educational leaders to serve students based on the latest research and best practices available to us from leading universities, including our neighbor, Stanford University, which often works directly with us as we evolve and improve our instructional strategies.

 

Our four comprehensive high schools and four smaller specialty schools each offer a unique mix of classes and academic opportunities to help students prepare for college and career. Students at all SUHSD schools have the opportunity to take advanced courses that prepare them for college and offer college credits, and they can choose to take a wide variety of Career Technical Education classes. Each of the comprehensive high schools offer 20+ advanced classes, many of which allow students to earn a “grade bump”, meaning the opportunity to raise their grade point average (GPA), which is considered in college admissions. Districtwide more than 120 advanced classes are offered.

 

Scroll down for information on how students are placed in ninth grade classes.

 

(Includes Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccaulaurete (IB), and Dual College Enrollment )

 

 

 

During the ninth grade year, students are placed in classes that widen their course options in grades 10-12. The first year of high school is an important transition time, when students are learning what they are capable of. Some students find they can achieve more than they ever imagined academically, and many are learning how to navigate the higher demands of high school classes. In alignment with our strategic plan goal of increasing proficiency and participation in advanced classes, we aim to offer as many students as possible the opportunity to take classes that qualify them for AP, IB or dual enrollment credit classes in 10th, 11th and 12th grades. 

 

Participation and test pass rates for AP and IB classes are rising:

 

 

A new paper released by Stanford University Professor Thomas S. Dee, Ph.D. that uses data from Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) to explore the impacts of ninth grade math placement provides strong evidence that when ninth grade students entering high school below grade level take Algebra I with strong supports instead of remedial math, their academic outcomes improve dramatically. Ninth graders who were above grade level (e.g. had successfully completed Algebra I in middle school) were assigned to Geometry or higher and were not included in the study’s analysis. Read the full study here.